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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/holidayschristmaOOwarr 



THE HOLIDAYS 



Christmas, Caste*, anD Utyitwntiaz ; 



TOGETHER WITH THE 



MAY-DAY, MIDSUMMER, AND HARVEST-HOME 

FESTIVALS. 



BY 

NATHAN Bj WARREN. 

// 



ILLUSTRATED BY F. 0. C. DARLEY. 



" I like them well — the curious preciseness, 
And all pretended gravity of those 
That seek to banish hence these harmless sports, 
Have thrust away much ancient honesty." 

London Holiday Book. 



THIRD EDITION. 




TROY, N. Y.: 
H. B. NIMS AND COMPANY. 



\ 



# 



1 81 



G 



Copyright, 1876, 
By H. B. Nims & Co. 



RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE : 

STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY 

H. O. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY. 



t>?# 



CONTENTS. 



• 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Introduction (Origin of Holiday Festivities) i 

II. Christmas 7 

III. Christmas Carols 13 

IV. Christmas in the Halls of Old England .... 32 
V. Christmas Wassailing 45 

VI. Christmas Mummeries 53 

VII. St. Nicholas, or the Boy-Bishop 67 

VIIL Christmas Gambols . . . ... . . . 81 

IX. The Christmas Prince 91 

X. The Christmas Banquets of the Olden Time . . . 10^ 

XL Twelfth-Day or Old Christmas 118 

XIL Shrove-Tide or Carnival 132 

XI IL Easter , 144 

XIV. Rogation Week . . . 155 

XV. Whitsuntide 167 

XVL May-Day 179 

XVII. St. John's or Midsummer's Eve 193 

XVIII. Harvest Home 213 



APPENDIX. 

Music of Carols 223 

Christmas Plays, [Alexander, or the King of Egypt] . . . 234 

Northumberland Household Book 241 

The Christmas Prince at St. John's College, Oxford . . . 245 

London Midsummer Holidays 251 

The Kirmse or Kirch-Messe (the Church Ales of Thuringia) . 254 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 

— ♦ — 

Christmas Waits Frontispiece 

PAGE 

Villagers around the May-Pole i 

The Nativity 7 

Pifferari 13 

Carol Singing 31 

Bringing in the Yule-Log 32 

Christmas Eve * 43 

rowena presenting the wassail-bowl 45 

The Christmas Tree 53 

Santa Claus ■ . 67 

Boy-Bishop in Pontificalibus 80 

Snap-Dragon 81 

Lord of Misrule 86 

Temple Revellers 91 

Combat of the Oxonian with the Wild Boar 105 

Christmas Banquet ?o6 

King and Queen of the Bean . . . .' . • • • 118 

Christmas Scene in the Rhineland 131 

Pancake Tossing in Westminster School 132 

Women Heaving the Men at Easter . . . . . 144 

Easter Games at Chester 149 

Parish Officers Beating the Bounds 155 

Archery Exhibition at Whitsuntide 167 

Whitsun Morris Dance 17° 

Whitsun Ale 176 

Raising the May- Pole 179 

St. John's Eve 193 

A London Marching Watch 202 

Harvest Home 213 

The Hock Cart 218 



CHAPTER I. 



INTRODUCTION. 




'-"i. 



REG- 
ORY 

the 
Great 
appears to be chief 
among the originators 
of the social festivities 
which, since his time, 
have distinguished the 
celebration of the 
Christmas Holidays. In 
a letter to Mellitus, a 
British Abbot (after- 
wards a successor of 
Augustine in the See 
of Canterbury), he says : 
" Whereas the people 
were accustomed to sac- 
rifice many oxen in 
honor of demons, let 



2 INTR OD UCTION. 

them celebrate a religious and solemn festival and not 
slay the animals, ' diabolo^ — * to the devil,' but to be 
eaten by themselves * ad laudem Dei ' — 'to the praise 
of God.' " 

In an earlier age, a very similar course had facilitated 
the conversion to Christianity of the populous district 
of Neo-Caesarea in Pontus. Gregory, Bishop of that 
Diocese, is said to have changed the observance of the 
Pagan festivals to those of the Christian saints and 
martyrs, retaining such of their ancient festivities and 
ceremonies as were in themselves harmless, and to 
which the people were greatly attached. 

But adaptations such as these were not made without 
exciting serious apprehensions, for Gregory Nazianzen 
and other Fathers of the Church, like the Puritans of 
modern times, warned their flocks against these secular- 
izing tendencies, and the danger of excess in feasting, 
dancing, crowning the doors, and similar festive prac- 
tices. They feared that these things would carry their 
people back into Paganism or Judaism. 

Gregory the Great, however, does not appear to have 
been troubled by any such scruples, for, as we have 
seen, he recommended to the Anglo-Saxon mission- 
aries a more liberal course in regard to social festivities. 

Gregory, or as he is called in the English Calen- 
dar, St. Gregory, was of noble family and devoted 
from his earliest youth to religion and learning, giving 
all his estate to the building and maintaining of relig- 
ious houses. He, therefore, could not be called worldly- 



INTRODUCTION. 3 

minded, nor taking into account his extensive mission- 
ary operations, could he be accused of being lacking in 
evangelical zeal. 

A rare tract of 1648 thus quaintly alludes to Greg- 
ory's letter : — 

"If it doth appeare that the time of this festival doth comply with 
the time of the Heathen's Sahcrnalia, this leaves no charge of im- 
piety upon it, for since things are best cured by their contraries, it 
was both wisdom and piety in the ancient Christians (whose work 
it was to convert the Heathens from such, as well as other super- 
stitions and miscarriages), to vindicate such times from the service 
of the Devil, by appoynting them to the more solemne and especiall 
service of God." 

The Roman missionaries derived no inconsiderable 
assistance from the Calendar they found already in ex- 
istence among their heathen converts. For the great 
Pagan festivals of the ancient world were regulated by 
the sun, their Feast of Yxde, or " Juul," being about the 
winter solstice, or Christmas ; the Festival of Eoster, 
or Easter, about the vernal equinox ; and that of Mid- 
summer, or St. John Baptist's Day, at the summer sol- 
stice. These most ancient of the world's festivals, 
under changed names and with new objects, are still 
kept in our own times. 

We are not, however, to infer, as many archaeologists 
have done, that the social festivities of the Christian 
holidays are altogether of heathen origin ; on the con- 
trary they may claim for themselves a much higher 
authority. In fact, our Christmas, Easter, and Whitsun 



4 INTR OD UCTION. 

festivals have taken the place of the three great feasts 
of the Jewish Church, — the feasts of Passover, of 
Weeks, and of Tabernacles. 

In the social festivities of the most joyous of 
these festivals, the Feast of Tabernacles, there is a 
striking resemblance to those of the Christmas holi- 
days. 

The requirements of The Law with respect to this 
festival were : — 

" And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy 
daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, 
the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within 
thy gates. Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the 
Lord thy God in the place which the Lord shall choose : because 
the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all 
the works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely rejoice." — 
Dent. xvi. 14, 15. 

Smith, in his " Dictionary of the Bible," gives an 
interesting account of the manner in which this in- 
junction of Moses was observed in after-times by the 
Jews in Jerusalem. He says : — 

" Though all the Hebrew Annual Festivals were seasons of re- 
joicing, the Feast of Tabernacles was in this respect distinguished 
above them all. The huts and the Mltibs must have made a gay 
and striking spectacle over the city by day ; and the lamps, the 
flambeaux, the music, and the joyous gatherings in the court of 
the Temple, must have given a still more festive character to the 

night At the Temple in the evening (after the day with 

which the festivals had commenced, had ended), both men and 
women assembled in the Court of the Women, expressly to hold a 
rejoicing for the drawing of the water of Siloam. On this occasion 
a degree of unrestrained hilarity was permitted, such as would have 



INTRODUCTION. 5 

been unbecoming while the ceremony itself was going on, in the 
presence of the Altar, and in connection with the offering of the 

Morning Sacrifice At the same time there were set up in 

the Court two lofty stands, each supporting four great lamps. 
These were lighted on each night of the Festival ; and, as it is said, 
they cast their light over nearly the whole compass of the city. 
Many in the assembly carried flambeaux ; a body of Levites 
stationed on the fifteen steps leading up to the Women's Court, 
played mstruments of music and chanted the fifteen psalms (120 to 
134), which are called in the A. V. ' Songs of Degrees.' Singing 
and dancing were afterwards continued for some time ; the same 
ceremonies in the day, and the same joyous meetings in the even- 
ing, were renewed on each of the seven days." 

The severity of our Puritanical forefathers who im- 
agined that the social festivities of their times were 
merely " heathenish vanities," is only equaled by their 
misconception in regard to the character of the Jewish 
holidays. 

The learned, to the confusion of Judaizing zealots 
of the Puritanical school, have clearlv established the 
fact that the Jewish Festivals were, even in the time of 
our Saviour and his Apostles, seasons of general social 
enjoyment. In conformity with the positive injunc- 
tions of the Mosaic Law, the New Moons, the Pass- 
over, the Feast of Pentecost and of Tabernacles, were 
observed with a degree of hilarity altogether inconsis- 
tent with the modern Puritanical notions of propriety. 
Indeed, they applied very literally the words of the 
Psalmist, " Serve the Lord with gladness, and come be- 
fore his presence with a song." 

According to Bishop Home and other Biblical 



6 INTR OD UCTION. 

scholars, the greatness of these rejoicings and their 
happening at the time of the vintage led Tacitus to 
suppose that the Jews were accustomed to sacrifice to 
Bacchus. 

The joyous nature of these festivals has been briefly 
but forcibly depicted by the author of " Festivals, 
Games, and Amusements." 

" The sacred ceremonies which, exclusive of the pomp of sacri- 
fice, the perfume of rich odors, and a stately display of gorgeously 
attired processionists in the courts of their venerated temple, and 
in the presence of a whole assembled people, combined the attrac- 
tions of male and female dancers with all the enchantments of the 
most exquisite musicians and singers, were not only incomparably 
more grand, imposing, and magnificent, as a mere spectacle, than 
any theatrical exhibition that the world could produce, but appealed 
to the heart while they delighted the eye ; gratified the soul as well 
as the sense ; awakened feelings of patriotism as well as religion, 
and by uniting the splendors of earth to the glorious hopes of 
heaven, constituted a union of fascinations which no sensitive or 
pious Jew could have contemplated without an ecstasy of delight." 

As our Saviour went up regularly to these feasts at- 
Jerusalem, and as the Apostles also continued even 
after the Ascension and the outpouring of the Spirit 
on the Day of Pentecost, to take part in these national 
festivals, we may, therefore, reasonably conclude, that 
there can be nothing in holiday festivities, inconsistent 
with the profession of the principles of Christianity. 



CHAPTER II. 



CHRISTMAS. 




H E 
term 
ViM Christ- 
mas 
is derived from Christ 
and the Saxon " maisse " 
signifying the Mass, 
and a Feast. 

The religious obser- 
vance of the festival 
dates from a period as 
early, at least, as the 
second century. Haydn 
says it was first observed 
a. d. 98. Clement, the 
co-worker of St. Paul, 
mentioned by him in 
his Epistle to the Philip- 
pians (iv. 3), says : 



8 



CHRISTMAS. 



" Brethren, keep diligently feast days ; and truly in the 
first place the day of Christ's birth." 

It was ordered to be kept as a solemn Feast, and 
with the performance of Divine Services, on the 25th 
of December, by Telesphorus, Bishop of Rome, about 
a. d. 137. His injunctions are, "that in the holy 
night of the Nativity of our Lord and Saviour, they 
do celebrate public Church services, and in them 
solemnly sing the Angels' Hymn, because also the 
same night he was declared unto the shepherds by an 
angel, as the truth itself doth witnesse." In the same 
age Theophilus, Bishop of Caesarea, recommends " the 
celebration of the birth-day of Our Lord, on what day 
soever the 25th of December shall happen." In the 
following century, Cyprian begins his " Treatise on the 
Nativity," thus : " The much wished for and long 
expected Nativity of Christ is come, the famous solem- 
nity is come." 

Gregory Nazianzen and St. Basil both have sermons 
on this day. St. Chrysostom also says : " This day 
was of great antiquity, and of long continuance, being 
famous and renowned in the Church from the begin- 
ning, far and wide, from Thrace as far as Gades in 
Spain." And he styles it, " the most venerable and 
tremendous of all festivals, and the Metropolis or 
Mother of all Festivals." 

. Brady in his " Clavis Calendaria " says : — 

" The first Christians, who, it is proper to remark, were all con- 
verts from the Hebrews, solemnized the nativity on the first of 
January, conforming in this computation to the Roman year, though 



CHRISTMAS. 9 

it is to be particularly noticed, that on the day of the Feast of 
Tabernacles they ornamented their churches with green boughs, 
as a memorial that Christ was actually born at that time, in like 
manner as the ancient Jews erected booths or tents which they in- 
habited at this season, to keep up by an express command from 
God the remembrance of their deliverance from Egyptian bondage, 
and of their having dwelt in tents or tabernacles in the wilderness." 

Blunt, in his " Annotated Book of Common Prayer," 
observes : — 

" Most of the Fathers have left sermons which were preached on 
Christmas Day, or during the continuance of the festival. And 
secular decrees of the Christian emperors, as well as canons of the 
Church, show, that it was very strictly observed as a time of rest 
from labour, of Divine Worship, and of Christian hilarity, and that 
1 it is most fit that the season so marked out by angels by songs of 
joy such as had not been heard on Earth since the Creation, should 
also be observed as a time of festive gladness by the Church, and 
in the social life of Christians." 

This festive gladness has always been a marked 
feature in an English Christmas. The enthusiasm with 
which its arrival is announced is thus felicitously ex- 
pressed by Thomas Millar : — 

"The hundreds of silver-toned bells of London ring loud, deep, 
and clear, from tower and spire, to welcome in Christmas. The 
far-stretching suburbs, like glad children, take up and fling back 
the sound over hill and valley, marsh and meadow, while steeple 
calls to steeple across the winding arms of the mast-crowded river, 
proclaiming to the heathen voyager who has brought his treasures 
to our coast, and who is ignorant of our religion, the approach of 
some great Christian festival." 

The towns of England have been described by 
Stowe and other old writers as presenting at this 



IO CHRISTMAS. 

season a sylvan appearance ; the houses dressed with 
branches of ivy and holly; the churches converted 
into leafy tabernacles, and standards bedecked with 
evergreens set up in the streets, while the young of 
both sexes danced around them. 

It is interesting to observe from such descriptions, 
the close resemblance between these manners and cus- 
toms, and those described in the passages quoted from 
Smith and Brady ; when, in accordance with Scripture 
injunctions, the people of Israel went forth into the 
mount and brought thence " olive-branches, and pine- 
branches, and myrtle-branches, and palm-branches, and 
branches of thick trees, and made themselves booths, 
every one upon the roof of his house, and in their 
courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in 
the street of the water-gate, and in the street of the 
gate of Ephraim." 

" The ancient custom of dressing our churches and houses at 
Christmas with evergreens, appears to be not only thus traceable to 
the Feast of Tabernacles, but is also supposed to have been derived 
from certain expressions in the following prophecies of the coming 
of our Saviour : l Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will 
raise unto David a Righteous Branch ; ' ' For behold I will bring 
forth my servant the Branch ; ' ' Thus speaketh the Lord of Hosts, 
saying, behold the Man whose name is The Branch, and He shall 
grow up out of his place ; ' At that time will I cause the Branch of 
Righteousness to grow up unto David ; ' ' Thus saith the Lord God, 
I will also take of the highest Branch of the High Cedar, and will 
set it ; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, 
and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent ; in the 
mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it, and it shall bring 
forth boughs, and bear fruit, and it shall be a goodly Cedar ; ' ' In 



CHRISTMAS. 1 1 

that day shall the Branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious ; ' 
' For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root 
out of a dry ground ; and the Lord shall reign over them in Mount 
Zion from henceforth even for ever ; ' ' There shall come forth a 
rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his 
roots, which shall stand for an ensign of the people, and my servant 
David shall be their Prince for ever. 5 

" For it must be confessed that those passages and expressions in 
which our Saviour is represented under the type of a Branch, a 
Righteous Branch, a Bough, the Branch of Righteousness, who will 
reign for ever, etc., in the above quoted clear and eminent proph- 
ecies of his first appearance in the flesh upon earth, are in a most 
lively manner brought to our memories, and unmistakably alluded 
to by those branches and boughs of evergreens, with which our 
churches and houses are adorned, whose gay appearance and per- 
petual verdure, in that dead season of the year, when all Nature 
looks comfortless, dark, and dreary, and when the rest of the 
vegetable world has shed its honors, does agreeably charm the 
unwearied beholder and make a very suitable accompaniment of 
the universal joy which always attends the annual commemoration 
of that holy festival." — See Gentleman's Magazine, 1765. 

Another quaint old writer thus spiritualizes the 
practice of Christmas decoration : — 

" So our churches and houses, decked with bayes and rosemary, 
holly and ivy, and other plants which are always green, winter and 
summer, signify and put us in mind of His Deity ; that the Child 
who now was born was God and Man, who should spring up like a 
tender plant, should always be green and flourishing, and live for 
evermore." 

In this custom there appears to be also a reference 
to those passages of the prophet Isaiah, which foretell 
the felicities attending the coming of Christ, namely : 
" The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir- 



1 2 CHRISTMAS. 

tree, the pine-tree, and the box, together, to beautify the 
place of my sanctuary '." (Isaiah lx. 13.) " Instead of 
the thorn, shall come up the fir-tree, and instead of the 
brier shall come up the myrtle-tree, and it shall be to 
the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall 
not be cut off." 



CHAPTER III. 



CHRISTMAS CAROLS. 



iHu 



^\v- 




ARO L 

singing 
appears 
to have originated in a 
usage of the Primitive 
Church, for " In the 
early ages the bishops 
were accustomed to sing 
Carols on Christmas 
Day with their clergy." 
Jeremy Taylor, refer- 
ring to this custom in 
his " Great Exemplar," 
says of the " Gloria in 
Excelsis"^ "As soon as 
those blessed choristers 
had sung their Christ- 
mas Carol, and taught the church a hymn to put into 

1 See Appendix. 



14 CHRISTMAS CAROLS. 

her offices for ever in the anniversary of this Festivity, 
the angels returned into heaven." 

The term " carol " is supposed to be derived either 
from the Italian " caroli " — a song of devotion, or 
carol, properly " a round dance." 1 Carols, it is said, 
were early introduced by the clergy into England 
from Italy, probably soon after the Norman Conquest, 
as a substitute for the Yule and Wassail songs of 
heathen origin, which, until then, had been in use 
among the vulgar. The custom of singing these 
" caroli " is still maintained in Italy ; indeed, on the 
continent, caroling at Christmas is almost universal, 
and particularly in Rome, where, during the season of 
Advent, the Pifferari may be seen and heard perform- 
ing their Novena before the shrine of the Madonna 
and Bambino. These pilgrims, who, by the way, are 

1 French carole, querole ; Breton keroll, a dance ; Welsh coroli, to reel, to 

dance. 

" Tho mightest thou karollis sene 

And folke dance and merie ben, 

And made many a faire tourning 

Upon the green grass springing." 

Romaimt of the Rose, A. D. 760. 

Chanson de carole, a song accompanying a dance ; then, as French balade, from 
Italian ballare, to dance, applied to the song itself. Diez suggests chortdus, 
from chorus, as the origin. But we have no occasion to invent a diminutive, as 
the Latin corolla, from corona, gives the exact sense required. Robert of Brune 
calls the circuit of Druidical stones a carol." 

" The Bretons ranged about the felde 
The karole of the stones behelde, 
Many tyme yede tham about, 
Biheld within, biheld without." 

WedgewoooV s Dictionary. 



CHRISTMAS CAROLS. 15 

shepherds from the Calabrian Mountains, annually 
flock to Rome at this season. Their picturesque cos- 
tume is thus described in " Roba di Roma : " — 

" On their heads they wear conical felt hats adorned with a frayed 
peacock's feather, or a faded band of red cords and tassels j their 
bodies are clad in red waistcoats, blue jackets, and small-clothes 
of skin or yellowish homespun cloth ; skin sandals are bound to 
their feet with cords that interlace each other up the leg as far as 
the knee, — and over all is worn a long brown or blue cloak with a 
short cape, buckled closely round the neck. Sometimes, but rarely, 
this cloak is of a deep red with a scalloped cape. As they stand 
before the pictures of the Madonna, their hats placed on the 
ground before them, and their thick disheveled hair covering their 
sunburnt brows, blowing away on their instruments or pausing. to 
sing their novena, they form a picture which every artist desires to 
paint. These Pifferari always go in couples, one playing on the 
zampogna or bagpipe, the base and treble accompaniment, and the 
other on the piifero, or pastoral pipe, which carries the air. Some- 
times one of them varies the performance by singing, in a strong 
peasant voice, verse after verse of the novena to the accompaniment 
of the bagpipe." 

But to return from this digression. The old Eng- 
lish Yule songs before referred to, are mentioned by- 
Brady in his " Calendaria" (1808). He says that in 
his time they were still sung by the people about the 
church-yards after service on Christmas Day. The 
example given by him is identical with that in the 
Christmas of Washington Irving's " Sketch Book." 

"Ule, Ule, Ule, Ule, 
Three puddings in a pule, 
Crack nuts and cry Ule." 



1 6 CHRISTMAS CAROLS. 

These Yule songs, it appears, were sung at the 
bringing in of the Christmas block, or Yule-log, which 
was anciently introduced into the old English baro- 
nial hall with much pomp and circumstance, the 
minstrels saluting its appearance with a song. The 
following specimen from the Sloane MS. is supposed 
to be of the time of Henry VI., and appears to have 
been a sort of intermediate link between the ancient 
Yule song and its more orthodox substitute, the 
Christmas Carol. 

WELCOME YULE ! 

" Welcome be thou heavenly King, 
Welcome, born on this morning, 
Welcome for whom we shall sing, 
Welcome Yule ! 

" Welcome be ye Stephen and John, 
Welcome Innocents every one, 
Welcome Thomas, Martyr-one, 
Welcome Yule ! 

" Welcome be ye, good New Year, 
Welcome Twelfth-Day, both in fere, 
Welcome Saints, loved and dear, 
Welcome Yule ! 

" Welcome be ye, Candlemas, 
Welcome be ye Queen of Bliss, 
Welcome both to more and less, 
Welcome Yule ! 



CHRISTMAS CAROLS. I J 

" Welcome be ye that are here, 
Welcome all, and make good cheer, 
Welcome all another year, 

Welcome Yule ! " 

The Carol for St. Stephen's Day, which follows this, 
founded on an ancient legend, is of the beginning 
of the fourteenth century. Very nearly the original 
words are given as a specimen of the language of the 
period. In the carol entitled " The Carnal and the 
Crane," this same legend appears in a more modern 
dress. 

CAROL FOR ST. STEPHEN'S DAY. 

" Saint Stephen was a clerk 
In King Herode's hall, 
And served him of bread and cloth 
As ever king befalle. 1 

" Stephen out of kitchen came 
With boar's head in hande, 
He saw a star was fair and bright, 
Over Bethlem stancle. 

" He cast adown the boar's head, 

And went into the halle : — 
'I forsake thee, King Herod, 

And thy werkes alle. 

" * I forsake thee, King Herod, 
And thine werkes alle, 
There is a child in Bethlem borne, 
Is better than we alle.' 

1 Befalle, i. <?., happened ; — as well as ever happened to a king. 
2 



I'8 CHRISTMAS CAROLS. 

1 * What aileth thee, Stephen, 
What is thee befalle ? 
Lacketh thee either meat or drink, 
In King Herod's hall ? ' 

" ' Lacketh me neither meat nor drink 
In King Herod's hall, 
There is a child in Bethlem borne, 
Is better than we all.' 

" ' What aileth thee, Stephen, 

Art thou wode. 1 or thou ginnest to brede ? a 
Lacketh thee either gold or fee, 
Or any rich weede ? ' 3 

" ' Lacketh me neither gold nor fee, 
Nor none rich weede, 
There is a child in Bethlem borne 
Shall help us at our need.' 

" ' That is all so sooth, Stephen, 
All so sooth, I wiss, 
As this capon crow shall, 
That lyeth here in my dish.' 

" That word was not so soon said, 
That word in that hall, 
The capon crew, ' Chris tits natus est, y 
Among the lordes alle. - 

1 Wode, i. e., mad. 

2 -Brede, t. c, upbraid. Danish, " bebreide." In Chaucer the line, — "For 
veray wo out of his wit he braide," is explained, " He went, or ran out of his 
wits." 

3 Weede, i. <?., dress. 



CHRISTMAS CAROLS. 1 9 

" Riseth up my tormentors, 
By two, and all by one, 
And leadeth Stephen out of town, 
And stoneth him with stone. 

" Token they Stephen, 

And stoned him in the way, 
And therefore is his even, 
On Christe's owen day." 

The custom of carol singing formerly prevailed 
over the greater part of the British Isles, and there 
are still in use in many places, especially among the 
peasantry of Derbyshire and Lancashire, Yorkshire, 
Northumberland, and Durham, carols of undoubted 
antiquity, illustrative of the manners and sentiments 
of the Middle Ages, some of which are said to be 
fragments of the Mystery and Miracle Plays, for- 
merly enacted at this season. The following are 
selected as specimens from these curious old carols : — 

AS 'JOSEPH WAS A-WALKING. 1 

" As Joseph was a-walking, 

He heard an angel sing, 
' This night shall be the birth-time 

Of Christ the Heav'nly King. 

" ' He neither shall be born 
In housen nor in hall, 
Nor in the place of Paradise, 
But in an ox's stall. 

1 For music see Appendix. 



20 CHRISTMAS CAROLS. 

" ' He neither shall be clothed 
In purple nor in pall, 
But in the fair white linen 
That usen babies all. 



" ' He neither shall be rocked 
In silver nor in gold, 
But in a wooden manger 
That resteth on the mould. ' 

" As Joseph was a-walking, 
There did an angel sing; 
And Mary's child at midnight 
Was born to be our king. 

." Then be ye glad good people, 
This night of all the year, 
And light ye up your candles, 
For His star it shineth clear." 

The next specimen seems to have been founded on 
a legend from one of the Apocryphal Gospels. It 
exhibits, says Mr. Howitt, a striking impress of the 
character of the Middle Ages, and shows how well 
they understood the true spirit £>f Christ. The music 
is to be found in the Appendix : — 



THE HOLY WELL. 

" Honor the leaves, and the leaves of life 
Upon this blest holiday, 
When Jesus asked his mother dear 
Whether He might go to play. 



CHRISTMAS CAROLS. 2 1 

" ' To play ! to play ! ' said Blessed Mary, 
' To play, then, get you gone ; 
And see there be no complaint of you 
At night when you come home.' 

" Sweet Jesus He ran into yonder town 
As far as the Holy Well ; 
And there He saw three as fine children 
As ever eyes beheld. 

" He said, • God bless you every one, 
And sweet may your sleep be ; 
And now, little children, I'll play with you, 
And you shall play with Me.' 

" ' Nay, nay, we are Lords' and Ladies' sons — 
Thou art meaner than us all ; 
Thou art but a silly fair maid's child 
Born in an oxen's stall." 

" Sweet Jesus turned Him around, 

And He neither laugh'd nor smiled, 
But the tears came trickling from his eyes, 
Like water from the skies. 

" Sweet Jesus He ran to his mother dear, 

As fast as He could run — 
' O mother, I saw three as fine children 

As ever were eyes set on. 

" * I said, " God bless you eveiy one, 
And sweet may your sleep be ; 
And now, little children, I'll play with you, 
And you shall play with Me.' 






2 2 CHRISTMAS CAROLS. 

" ' " Nay," said they, " we're Lords' and Ladies' sons, 
Thou art meaner than us all ; 
For thou art but a poor fair maid's child, 
Born in an oxen's stall."' 

" ' Though you are but a maiden's child 
Born in an oxen's stall, 
Thou art the Christ, the King of Heaven, 
And the Saviour of them all. 

" ' Sweet Jesus, go down to yonder town, 
As far as the Holy Well, 
And take away those sinful souls 
And dip them deep in hell.' 

" * Nay, nay,' ' sweet Jesus said, 
' Nay, nay, that may not be, 
For there are too many sinful souls 
Crying out for the help of Me.' 1 

" O, then spoke the Angel Gabriel, 

Upon one good Saint Stephen, 
* Although you're but a maiden's child, 

You are the King of Heaven.' 

Numeral Hymns were common in the olden time. 
The following is one of the most ancient of all the 
popular carols ; the original, preserved among the 
Sloane MSS., and of a date not later than the four- 
teenth century, is entitled — 



1 This response seems to have been suggested by the answer made by 
Christ to the disciples when they would have called down fire from heaven. — 
Luke ix. 54, 55. 



CHRISTMAS CAROLS. 23 



"JOYES FYVE." 

" The first good joy our Mary had, 
It was the joy of one, 
To see her own Son Jesus 
To suck at her breast bone, 
To suck at her breast bone. 

Good man, and blessed, may he be 

Both Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
And Christ to eternity. 

" The next good joy our Mary had, 
It was the joy of two, 
To see her own Son Jesus 
To make the lame to go; 
To make the lame to go. 
Good man, etc. 

" The next good joy our Mary had, 
It was the joy of three, 
To see her own Son Jesus 
To make the blind to see ; 
To make the blind to see. 
Good man, etc. 

" The next good joy our Mary had, 
It was the joy of four, 
To see her own Son Jesus 
To read the Bible o'er ; 
To read the Bible o'er. 
Good man, etc. 

" The next good joy our Mary had, 
It was the joy of five, 



24 CHRISTMAS CAROLS. 

To see her own Son Jesus 
To raise the dead alive ; 
To raise the dead alive. 
Good man, etc. 

" The next good joy our Mary had, 
It was the joy of six, 
To see her own Son Jesus 
To wear the crucifix ; 
To wear the crucifix. 
Good man, etc. 

" The next good joy our Mary had, 
It was the joy of seven, 
To see her own Son Jesus 

To wear the crown of Heaven, 
To wear the crown of Heaven. 

Good man, and blessed may he be, 

Both Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
And Christ to eternity." 

The following popular carol is from a Kentish 
version : — 

CHRISTMAS DAY IN THE MORNING. 

" I saw three ships come sailing in, 

On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day ; 
I saw three ships come sailing in, 
On Christmas Day in the morning. 1 

" And what was in those ships all three ? etc. ; 
And what was in those ships all three ? etc. 

1 In singing this carol, repeat after the first line of each verse, "On Christmas 
Day, on Christmas Day," and after the second line, " On Christinas Day in the 
morning." 



CHRISTMAS CAROLS. 25 

" Our Saviour Christ and his ladie, etc. ; 
Our Saviour Christ and his ladie, etc. 

" Pray whither sailed those ships all three ? etc. ; 
Pray whither sailed those ships all three ? etc. 

" O they sailed into Bethlehem, etc. ; 
O they sailed into Bethlehem, etc. 

" And all the bells on earth shall ring, etc. ; 
And all the bells on earth shall ring, etc. 

" And all the Angels in Heaven shall sing, etc. ; 
And all the Angels in Heaven shall sing, etc. 

" And all the Souls on Earth shall sing, etc. ; 
And all the Souls on Earth shall sing, etc. 

" Then let us all rejoice amain, etc. ; 
Then let us all rejoice amain, etc." 

Ritson thinks that the different versions of this 
carol may have had their origin in the following 
curious fragment found by him in Scotland : — 

" There comes a ship far sailing then, 
Saint Michel was the stieres-man; 
Saint John sate in the horn : 
Our Lord harped, our Lady sang, 
And all the bells of heaven they rang, 
On Christ's Sonday at morn." 

The carol entitled " The Holly and the Ivy," is 
from Sylvester's collection, and is derived from an 



26 CHRISTMAS CAROLS. 

old broadside printed more than a century and a half 
ago. The holly, from time immemorial, has been the 
favorite Christmas evergreen. Dr. Turner, an early 
English writer on plants, calls it " holy " and " holy- 
tree ; " which appellation was given it, most probably, 
from its being used in holy places. " It has a great 
variety of names in Germany, amongst which is 
Christdorn ; in Danish it is also called Christhorn ; 
and in Swedish Christtorn y amongst other appella- 
tions ; from whence it appears that it is considered a 
holy plant, by many people in those countries." 

THE HOLLY AND THE IVY. 1 

" The Holly and the Ivy 

Now are both well grown, 
Of all the trees that are in the wood, 
The holly bears the crown. 
Chorus. — The rising of the sun, 

The running of the deer, 
The playing of the merry organ, 
The singing in the choir. 

" The holly bears a blossom 
As white as the lily flower, 
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ, 
To be our sweet Saviour. 
Chorus. — The rising of the sun, etc. 

" The holly bears a berry, 
As red as any blood, 

1 Music in the Appendix. 



CHRISTMAS CAROLS. 2 7 

And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ, 
To do poor sinners good. 
Chorus. — The rising of the sun, etc. 

" The holly bears a prickle 
As sharp as any thorn, 
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ, 
On Christmas Day in the morn. 
Chorus. — The rising of the sun, etc. 

"The holly bears a bark, 
As bitter as any gall, 
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ, 
For to redeem us all. 
Chorus. — The rising of the sun, etc. 

" The holly and the ivy 

Now are both well grown, 
Of all the trees that are in the wood, 
The holly bears the crown. 
Chorus. — The rising of the sun," etc. 

So popular had carols such as these become in the 
fifteenth century, that Wynkyn de Worde, one of the 
earliest printers, published a collection of them in 
1 52 1, containing among others, the celebrated " Boar's 
Head Carol," the best in the collection ; 1 for besides 
the devotional carols in use at the season, there were 
those of a convivial character. These "jolie carols," 
as old Tusser calls them, were sung by the company 
or by itinerant minstrels who attended the feasts for 
the purpose. 

1 See Appendix for the music of this famous carol. 



28 



CHRISTMAS CAROLS. 



" Our early songs and carols have commonly a bur- 
then of two lines at the commencement, and not as 
now, at the end of the stanza. This burthen was in- 
tended to be sung by undervoices throughout the song 
to support the tune, as in the Boar's Head Carol. 

The Reformation, it appears, did not by any means 
impair the popularity of the Christmas Carol in Eng- 
land. Says an old writer of 1631, "Suppose Christ- 
mas now approaching, the evergreen ivy trimming and 
adorning the portals and partcloses of so frequented a 
building ; the usual carols to observe antiquity cheer- 
fully sounding, and that which is the complement of 
his inferior comforts, his neighbors, whom he tenders 
as members of his own family, join with him in this 
consort of mirth and melody." 

One of these Christmas Carols, printed about the 
same period, recites some of the peculiar pastimes of 
the season : — 



" Hark how the wagges abroad doe call 

Each other forthe to rambling; 
Anon you '11 see them in the hall 

For nuts and apples scrambling ; 
The wenches with their wassail bowles 

About the streets are singing ; 
The boyes are come to catch the owles, 

The wild mare is in bringing." 

Mr. Davies Gilbert, in his collection of ancient Christ- 
mas Carols, says, that in the West of England on 
Christmas Day, carols " took the place of psalms in all 



CHRISTMAS CAROLS. 29 

the churches, especially at afternoon service, the whole 
conoreeation joining; and at the end it was usual for 
the parish clerk to declare, in a loud voice, his wishes 
for a merry Christmas and a happy New Year, to all 
the parishioners." 

In Wales, Christmas caroling is still kept up, per- 
haps to a greater extent even than in England. After 
the turn of midnight on Christmas Eve, divine service 
is celebrated, followed by the singing of carols to the 
harp ; and they are also with similar accompaniment 
sung in the houses, during the continuance of the 
Christmas holidays. 

Before the Reformation, the interval between the 
midnight mass and that at daybreak was passed in 
singing carols and in peculiar dances, which were 
shared in by young and old. 

This practice of midnight caroling was once very 
general. Indeed, throughout the whole season of Ad- 
vent, bands of vocal and instrumental performers made 
their rounds, charming the wintry nights preceding 
Christmas with their minstrelsy. 

This custom of carol singing at Christmas is one 
which of late years has greatly revived and become 
generally popular both in Europe and America. The 
usage, however, has been made to conform in great 
measure to our modern notions of propriety and con- 
venience. Itinerant minstrels seldom now awaken peo- 
ple from their slumbers at midnight with the carol 
" God rest you merry gentlemen, 
Let nothing you dismay ! " 



30 CHRISTMAS CAROLS. 

Nor do the waits in these days often go from house 
to house and from hamlet to hamlet, " all the night long 
chanting such carols as our pious forefathers loved well 
to listen to." 

"Wake me that I the twelvemonth long, 
May bear the song 
About me in the world's throng ; 
That treasured joys of Christmas tide 
May with mine hour of gloom abide ; 

The Christmas Carol ring 
Deep in my heart, when I would sing, 
Each of the twelve good days, 
Its earnest yield of duteous love and praise, 
Ensuring happy months, and hallowing common ways." 

Keble. 

In days of yore a variety of instruments, beside the 
harp, were used by the minstrels. Morley, in his " Con- 
sort Lessons," dedicated to the Lord Mayor and Alder- 
men of London, 1529, speaks of the treble and base 
viols, the flute, the cittern or English guitar, the treble 
lute, and the pandora. 

In more modern times the waits used hautboys of 
four different sizes. 

In ancient times, the chief of the nobility maintained 
in their households bands of their own, but ordinarily 
minstrels went about from house to house. In return 
for the hospitality received, they sang the praises of 
their noble host, showering down blessings on him and 
the family. 

The Norman Carol, translated by Dr. Douce from a 



CHRISTMAS CAROLS. 3 I 

MS. in the British Museum, presents a pleasing pic- 
ture of this mediaeval custom : — 

" Lordlings, listen to our ditty, 
Strangers coming from afar; 
Let poor minstrels move your pity, 
Give us welcome, soothe our care. 
In this mansion, as they tell us, 
Christmas wassail keeps to-day, 
And, as king of all good fellows, 
Reigns with uncontrolled sway." 




CHAPTER IV. 



CHRISTMAS IN THE HALLS OF OLD ENGLAND. 




and 
placing it on the 
hearth of the wide fire- 
place in the hall, was, 
in the olden time, one 
of the most joyous 
of the ceremonies con- 
nected with the obser- 
vance of the Christ- 
mas holidays. 

The custom of burn- 
ing the Yule-log is said 
to have originated with the Danes and Pao^an Saxons, 
who made bonfires at the winter solstice, or Yule, in 



CHRISTMAS IN OID ENGLAND. 33 

honor of their god Thor, and is supposed to have been 
emblematic of the return of the sun with its increasing 
light and warmth. On the introduction of Christian- 
ity, the illuminations of this Feast of Yule were con- 
tinued " as representative of that True Light which 
was then ushered into the world in the person of our 
Saviour, ' the Day-spring from on High.' " 

" The venerable Yule-log, destined to crackle a welcome to all 
comers, was drawn," says Mr. Chambers, "in triumph from its 
resting place at the feet of its living brethren of the woods. Each 
wayfarer raised his hat as it passed, for he well knew it was full 
of good promises, and that its flame would burn out old wrongs 
and heart-burnings." 

In the olden time, the lighting of the Yule-log was 
the signal for a general cessation of work ; and for 
an energetic devotion to the traditional sports and 
pastimes of the season. 

Vestiges of this custom are to be found even in 
this country. In Connecticut, at the house of an 
ancestor of the writer, the size of the Yule-log was 
a matter of no small importance ; for, so long as it 
burned, all work on the farm was suspended. 

In Drake's " Winter Nights," mention is made of 
the Yule-log, as lying " in ponderous majesty on the 
kitchen floor," until each had sung his Yule song, 
" standing on its centre," ere it was consigned to the 
flames that 

" Went roaring up the chimney wide." 

A specimen of one of these songs, the carol " Wei 

3 



34 CHRISTMAS IN THE HALLS 

come Yule," is given in the preceding chapter. Herrick 
furnishes us with another, which the artist has illus- 
trated in the initial letter : — 

" Come, bring with a noise, 

My merry, merry boys, 
The Christmas log to the firing; 

While my good dame, she 

Bids ye all be free, 
And drink to your heart's desiring. 

" With the last year's brand 

Light the new block, and 
For good success in his spending, 

On your psaltries play, 

That sweet luck may 
Come while the log is a-teending" (kindling). 

Then went round the spicy wassail bowl, drowning 
every former grudge and animosity ; an example wor- 
thy of modern imitation. " Wassail ! " was the word. 
" Wassail ! " every guest returned as he took the circling 
goblet from his friend. 

In Devonshire, the Yule-log takes the form of the 
Ashton fagot ; the Scandinavian tradition, that man 
was created out of an ash-tree, may have originated 
this idea. The fagot is composed of a bundle of ash 
sticks, bound or hooped round with bands of the same 
tree ; and the number of these last ought, it is said, 
to be nine. It is an acknowledged and time-honored 
custom, that for every crack which the bands of the 
Ashton fagot make in bursting, when charred through, 



OF OLD ENGLAND. 35 

the master of the house is bound to furnish a fresh 
bowl of wassail. 

The Yule-log was burned until Twelfth Night. On 
the last day of its being in use, which in some places 
was even as late as Candlemas Day (February 2), a 
small piece of the Christmas block having been kept 
on purpose, the practice was, to 

" Kindle the Christmas brand, and then 
Till sunset let it burne, 
Which quenched, then lay it up agen, 
Till Christmas next returne. 

" Part must be kept, wherewith to teend 
The Christmas log next yeare ; 
And where it is safely kept, the fiend 
Can do no mischief there." 

There are many curious superstitions connected with 
the burning of the Yule-log. It is said the maidens 
that blow a Christmas fire should be like suitors in 
a law court, and come to the task with clean hands : — 

" Wash your hands, or else the fire 
Will not teend to your desire ; 
Unwashed hands, ye maidens know, 
Dead the fire though ye blow." 

Moreover no person that squints should be permit- 
ted to enter the room when it is lit on Christmas 
Eve; nor should any one barefooted be allowed to 
pass through the hall. In France the Yule-log was 
once believed to keep away pestilence from all 



36 CHRISTMAS IN THE HALLS 

who were seated around it, this protection extending 
throughout the year. 

As an accompaniment to the Yule-log, a candle of 
enormous size, called the Yule candle, or sometimes 
the Wassail candle, shed its light on the festive board. 

Brand, in his " Popular Antiquities," states that " in 
the buttery of St. John's College, Oxford, an ancient 
candle socket of stone still remains, ornamented with 
the figure of the Holy Lamb. It was formerly used 
for holding the Christmas candle, which, during the 
twelve nights of the Christmas festival, was burned 
on the high table at supper." 

As the hall w T as the place where the Christmas 
festivities were held, — the scene of hospitality, the 
stronghold of old English manners and customs, — 
we here digress from the main object of this work to 
give a few interesting facts illustrative of its history, 
which it is hoped will enable the reader the better to 
picture to himself the Christmas holidays of the olden 
time. They are taken from Mr. Wright's " Domestic 
Manners and Sentiments of the Middle Ages": — 

The most important part of the Saxon house was 
the hall. The Saxon dwelling appears to have been 
of wood, of which material houses continued very gen- 
erally to be built, until comparatively modern times. 
A great change, however, was wrought in England 
by the entrance of the Normans. Some time after 
that period, or about the middle of the twelfth cen- 
tury, we begin to become better acquainted with the 



OF OLD ENGLAND. 37 

domestic manners of our forefathers, and from this 
time to the end of the fourteenth century the change 
was very gradual, and in many respects the manners 
and customs remained nearly the same. The " hall," 
or, according to the Norman word, the " salle," was 
still the principal part of the building; but its old 
Saxon character seems to have been so universally ac- 
knowledged that the first or Saxon name prevailed 
over the other. The name at this time usually given 
to the whole dwelling-house, was the Norman word 
" rhanoir," or manor ; and we find this applied popu- 
larly to the houses of all classes, excepting only the 
cottages of laboring people. 

In houses of the twelfth century, the hall, situated 
on the ground floor, and open to the roof, continued to 
form the principal feature of the building. A chamber 
generally adjoined one end, and at the other was 
usually a stable. The whole building stood within a 
small inclosure, consisting, in front, of a yard or court, 
called in Norman " aire " (area) ; and in the rear, of a 
garden which was surrounded with a hedge and ditch. 
In front, the house had generally one door, which was 
the main entrance into the hall, from which apartment 
there was a door into the chamber at one end ; and 
one into the " croiche," or stable, at the other end, 
and a back door into the garden. The stable, as a 
matter of course, would have a large door, or outlet 
into the yard. The chief windows were those of the 
hall. 



38 CHRISTMAS IN THE HALTS 

Alexander Neckam, Abbot of Cirencester, who died 
in 1217, has left us a sufficiently clear description of 
the Norman hall. He says that it had a vestibule or 
screen (vestibulum), and was entered through a porch 
(porticus), and that it had a court (atrium). In the 
interior of the hall, there were posts (or columns) 
placed at regular distances. The few examples of 
Norman halls which remain, are thus divided inter- 
nally by two rows of these columns. He enumer- 
ates the materials required in the construction of the 
hall, which shows that he is speaking of a timber 
building. A fine example of one of these timber 
halls, though of a later period, is, or was recently, 
standing in the city of Gloucester, with its internal 
posts as here described. There appears, also, to have 
been an inner court-yard, in which Neckam intimates 
that poultry were kept. The whole building and the 
two court-yards were surrounded by a wall, outside of 
which were the garden and orchard. 

At the close of the fourteenth century, the middle 
classes of England had made great advances in wealth 
and independence. This increase of wealth appears 
in the multiplication of articles of furniture and house- 
hold implements, especially those of a more valuable 
description. There was also a great increase both in 
the number and magnitude of the houses which inter- 
vened between the castle and the cottage. Instead of 
having one or two bedrooms only, and turning people 
at night into the hall to sleep, as in earlier times, we 
now find whole suites of chambers ; while, where 



OF OLD ENGLAND. 39 

before, the family lived chiefly in the hall, privacy was 
now sought by the addition of parlors, of which there 
were often more than one, in a house of ordinary size. 
The hall was, in fact, already beginning to diminish 
in relative importance to the rest of the mansion. 
Whether in town or country, houses of any magni- 
tude were now generally built round an interior 
court, into which the rooms almost invariably looked, 
only small and unimportant windows looking toward 
the street or country. This arrangement, of course, 
originated in the necessity of studying security, a 
necessity which was never felt in England more 
severely than during the fifteenth century. 

The hall was still but scantily furnished. The per- 
manent furniture consisted chiefly of benches and of 
a seat with a back to it, for the superior members 
of the family. The head table, at least, which stood 
on a dais, or raised platform, at the upper end of the 
hall, was often a permanent one ; and there were in 
general other permanent tables, or " tables dormants ; " 
but still the majority of the tables in the hall were 
made up for each meal, by placing boards upon 
trestles. Cushions with ornamental cloths called 
" bankers ' and " dorsers," for placing over the 
benches and backs of the seats of the better persons 
at the table, were also in general use. On special 
occasions, tapestry was suspended on the walls of the 
hall. Another article of furniture also had now be- 
come common, the " buffet," or stand on which the 
plate and other vessels were arranged. 



40 CHRISTMAS IN THE HALLS 

A vocabulary of the fifteenth century enumerates as 
the ordinary furniture of the hall : " A board, a trestle, 
a banker, a dorser, a natte (table-cloth), a table dor- 
mant, a basin, a laver, fire on a hearth, a brand or 
torch, a Yule block, an andiron, tongs, a pair of bel- 
lows, wood for the fire, a long settle, a chair, a bench, 
a stool, a cushion, and a screen." 

There were also "waits," or trumpeters, in olden 
time always attached to the halls of great people, to 
announce the commencement of the dinner. Only 
persons of a certain rank were allowed this piece of 
ostentation ; but everybody who could obtain it had 
minstrelsy at dinner. The wandering minstrel was 
welcome in every hall ; and for this very reason the 
class of ambulatory musicians was very numerous. 

In the sixteenth century the hall still continued to 
hold its position as the great public apartment of the 
house, and in its arrangements it differed slightly 
from those of an earlier date ; it was, indeed, now, the 
only part of the house which had not been affected by 
the increasing taste for domestic privacy. We have 
many examples of the old Gothic hall of this period in 
England, not only as it existed and was used in the 
sixteenth century, but in some cases, especially in 
colleges, still used for its original purposes. One of 
the simplest, and at the same time best examples of 
these halls, is found in the Hospital of St. Cross near 
Winchester : — 

" The principal entrance to the main building from the first or 



OF OLD ENGLAND. 4 1 

outer court, opened into a thorough lobby, having on one side sev- 
eral doors or arches leading to the buttery, kitchen, and domestic 
offices ; on the other side, the hall, parted off by a screen, generally 
of wood elaborately carved, and enriched with shields and a variety 
of ornament, and pierced with several arches having folding doors. 
Above the screen and over the lobby, was the ministrels' gallery, 
and on its front were usually hung armor, antlers, and similar me- 
morials of the family exploits. The hall itself was a large and lofty 
room, in the shape of a parallelogram ; the roof, the timbers of which 
were framed with pendents, richly carved and emblazoned with 
heraldic insignia, formed one of its most striking features. ' The top- 
beam of the hall' — in allusion to the position of his coat of arms — 
was a symbolical manner of drinking the health of the master of 
the house. At the upper end of this chamber — furthest from the 
entrance — the floor was usually raised a step, and this part was 
styled the ' dais', or ' high place.' On one side of the dais was a 
deep embayed window, reaching nearly down to the floor ; the other 
windows ranged along one or both sides of the hall, at a consider- 
able height above the ground, so as to leave room for wainscoting 
or arras below them. They were enriched with stained glass, repre- 
senting the armorial bearings of the family, their connections, and 
royal patrons, and between the windows were hung full length 
portraits of the same persons. The royal arms, also, usually occu- 
pied a conspicuous station at either end of the room. The head 
table was laid for the lord and principal guests on the raised place, 
parallel with the upper end wall, and other tables were ranged along 
the sides for inferior visitors and retainers. Tables so placed were 
said to stand 'banquet-wise.' In the centre of the hall was the 
rere-dosse, or fire-iron, against which fagots were piled, and burnt 
upon the stone floor ; the smoke passing through an aperture in the 
roof immediately overhead, which was generally formed into an 
elevated lantern, a conspicuous ornament to the exterior of the build- 
ing. In latter times a wide arched fire-place was formed in the wall 
on one side of the room." 

The earlier half of the sixteenth century was the 



42 CHRISTMAS IN THE HALTS 

period when the pageantry of feasting in these halls 
was carried to its greatest degree of splendor, espe- 
cially at Christmas. " In the houses of the noble and 
wealthy, the dinner itself was laid out with great 
pomp, was almost always accompanied with music, 
and not unfrequently interrupted with dances, mum- 
mings, and masquerades." 

Aubrey says : In days of yore " the lords (then lords 
in deed as well as title) lived in their countries like 
petty kings, 1 had jura regalia belonging to their seign- 
iories, had their castle and boroughs, and sent bur- 
gesses to the Lower House ; had gallows within their 
Libertie, where they could try, condemn, draw, and 
hang; never went to London but in Parliament-time, 
or once a year, to do their homage and duty to the 
king. The Lords of manours kept good houses in 
their countries, did eat in their great Gothick halls at 
the high table. . . . The hearth was commonly in 
the middle, as at most colleges, whence the saying 
' Round about our coal-fire.' Here in the halls were 
the mummings, cob-loaf stealing, and great number of 
old Christmas plays performed." The halls of all the 
colleges, at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, 
and in the Inns of Court, still remain as in Aubrey's 
time, accurate examples of the ancient baronial and 
conventual halls ; preserving not merely their original 

1 " Heretofore noblemen and gentlemen of fair estates had their heralds, who 
wore their coat-of-arms at Christmas, and at other solemn times, and cried 
' Largesse ' thrice." 



OF OLD ENGLAND. 43 

form and appearance, but the identical arrangement 
and service of the tables. 

The following imaginary scene from the London 
" Holiday Book," gives us a very good idea of the 
appearance of one of these old English halls on a 
Christmas Eve : — 

" A fire on the wide hearth-stone ; an oaken table ; with a goodly 
company ; closed doors ; the mistletoe aloft upon a mighty beam ; 
evergreens abundant ; the ' Minstrels ' in the tapestried gallery ; 
quaint figures of * Mummers ' drolly attired, peep from behind the 
half-drawn curtains, dependent before the recess of the deep bay- 
windows." 

From time to time it appears that the gentry and 
nobility of the realm were admonished by royal author- 
ity of their duty to go down to their country seats, 
and then and there to entertain their friends and 
neighbors with liberal hospitality. 

It is said that at Houghton Chapel, Nottingham- 
shire, " the good Sir William Mollis" who kept his 
house in great splendor and hospitality, began Christ- 
mas at All Hallow-tide (October 31), and continued 
it till Candlemas (February 2) ; during which time any 
man w r as permitted to stay three days, without being 
asked who he was, or whence he came. 

In the " Diary " of the Rev. John Ward, Vicar of 
Stratford-upon-Avon, extending from 1648 to 1679, it 
is stated that the Duke of Norfolk expended ,£20,000 
in keeping Christmas. Charles II. gave over keeping 
this festival for economy's sake, having so many other 



44 CHRISTMAS IN OLD ENGLAND. 

expenses he could not very well afford to keep Christ- 
mas. 

From this time "keeping hall" at Christmas is said 
to have declined. 

The following programme of Christmas hospitalities 
to be observed in a baronial hall will appropriately con- 
clude the subject : — 

" On Christmas-day, service in the church ended, the gentlemen 
presently repair into the hall to breakfast, with brawn, mustard, and 
malmsey. 

" At dinner, the butler, appointed for the Christmas, is to see the 
tables covered and furnished : and the ordinary butlers of the house 
are decently to set bread, napkins, and trenchers, in good form, at 
every table ; with spoones and knives. At the first course, is served 
a fair and large boar's head, upon a silver platter, with min- 
stralsye. 

" Two ' servants ' are to attend at supper, and to bear two fair 
torches of wax, next before the musicians and trumpeters, and stand 
above the fire with the musick, till the first course be served in 
through the hall. Which performed, they, with the musick, are to 
return into the buttery. The like course is to be observed in all 
things, during the time of Christmas. 

" At night, before supper, are revels and dancing, and so also 
after supper, during the twelve daies of Christmas. The Master 
of the Revels is, after dinner and supper, to sing a caroll, or song; 
and command other gentlemen then there present to sing with him 
and the company; and so it is very decently performed." x 

1 Nichol's Progresses and Processions of Queen Elizabeth, vol. i., pp. 20, 21, anno 
1562. 



CHAPTER V. 



CHRISTMAS WASSAILING. 




KRIST- 
IN M A S 

Was- 
sail 

has been from the 
earliest time associated 
with our notions of 
Christmas in the Hall. 

This famous beverage 
was served smoking hot, 
and might be made of 
wine, cider, or ale, which 
besides being sweetened 
and spiced, was also 
" augmented" by the ad- 
dition of a toast and 
apples stuck full of 
cloves. 1 When ale was 
used the compound was 
called Lamb's Wool. 

1 The " Mark Lane Express " gives the following receipt for making the was- 
sail-bowl : Simmer a small quantity of the following spices in a teacupful of 



46 CHRISTMAS WASSAILING. 

Herrick says : — 

" Next crown the bowl full 

With gentle lamb's wool : 
Add sugar, nutmeg, and ginger, 

With store of ale too ; 

And thus must ye do, 
To make the wassail a swinger ! " 

According to the author of " Nooks and Corners 
of English Life," this term Lamb's Wool was derived 
from the Irish words " La Mas Ubal" signifying the 
Feast or Day of the Apple, and pronounced " Lama- 
sool" which term soon passed into " Lamb's Wool" 

In some of the Southern States a similar beverage, 
under the name of " Apple Jack " is still a customary 
drink at Christmas, rum and water being substituted 
for ale. 

According to an ancient tradition, mentioned by 
Geoffrey of Monmouth and other monkish writers, 
the origin of this custom of Wassailing is traced to 
Rowena, the daughter of the Saxon Hengist. Richard 
Verstegan (1605) says : — 

water ; namely, Cardamums, cloves, nutmeg, mace, ginger, cinnamon, and co- 
riander. When done, put the spice to two, four, or six bottles of port, sherry, or 
madeira, with one pound and a half of fine loaf sugar (pounded) to four bottles, 
and set all on the fire in a clean, bright saucepan ; meanwhile, have yolks of 
twelve and the whites of six eggs well whisked up in it. Then, when the spiced 
and sugared wine is a little warm, take out one teacupful ; and so on for three or 
four cups ; after which, when it boils, add the whole of the remainder, pouring it 
in gradually, and stirring it briskly all the time, so as to froth it. The moment a 
fine froth is obtained, toss in twelve fine soft roasted apples, and send it up hot. 
Spices for each bottle of wine : 10 grains of mace, 46 grains of cloves, 27 grains 
of cardamums, 28 grains of cinnamon, 12 grains of nutmeg, 48 grains of ginger, 49 
grains of coriander seeds." 



CHRISTMAS WASSAILING. 47 

" As this lady was very beautiful, so was she of a very comely 
deportment ; and Hingistus, having invited King Vortiger to a sup- 
per at his new builded castle, caused that after supper she came 
forth of her chamber into the king's presence, with a cup of gold 
filled with wine in her hand, and making in very seemly manner a 
low reverence unto the king, said with a pleasing grace and counte- 
nance, * Waes-heal, hlaford Cyning' — ' Be of health, Lord King.' 

(i Of the beauty of this lady the king took so great liking, that he 
became exceedingly inamored with her, and desired to have her in 
marriage, which Hingistus agreed unto, upon condition that the 
king should give unto him the whole country of Kent, whereunto 
he willingly condescended and divorcing himself from his former 
married wife, married with the Saxon Lady Rowena." 

An early authority, Robert of Gloucester, thus com- 
memorates the event : — 

" MuBtt fjfre autr sttte fjtire atroune anfc slatr ttcoufce fjtce 

fjetl 
^ntr tijat toas tjo in tljts lamr tfje terst toaa=f)atl 
&s. tu 2Laiifiuage of Sarognc tfjat toe mtjftt zbtvz (totte 
&ntr so toell ije patti) tije fole afcottt tfjat Je in not gut 

toovflttte." 

Or, according to a more modern version : — 

" ' Health, my lord king,' the sweet Rowena said ; 
'Health,' cry'd the chieftain, to the Saxon maid; 
Then gayly 'rose, and 'midst the concourse wide, 
Kiss'd her hale lips, and placed her by his side ; 
At the soft scene such gentle thoughts abound, 
That health and kisses 'mongst the guests went round ; 
From this the social custom took its rise, 
We still retain, and must forever prize." 

The mistletoe or kissing-bush appears to have been 
early associated with Christmas wassailing. Since the 



4 8 CHRISTMAS WASSAILING. 

days of Queen Elizabeth, the custom has been to sus- 
pend a bunch of the mistletoe from the wall or ceiling 
on Christmas Eve. Any one of the fair sex who by 
chance, or possibly on purpose, passes beneath the mys- 
tic branch is summarily kissed by any of the male sex 
who chooses to avail himself of the privilege. At the 
same time he should wish her a happy New Year and 
present her with one of the berries for good luck's 
sake. But with the disappearance of the berries the 
sport should come to an end. 

The origin of the rites and ceremonies practiced be- 
neath the mistletoe seems to be clouded by the haze of 
uncertainty not unlike that which surrounds the origin 
of the Eleusinian Mysteries. 

The plant was looked upon by our Pagan ancestors 
with a species of veneration. It is supposed to have 
been the sacred branch referred to by Virgil in his de- 
scription of the descent to the lower regions ; and, if 
so, may be presumed, to have been in use in the relig- 
ious ceremonies of the Greeks and Romans, as this 
description is considered an allegorical representation 
of some of their mysteries. It is well known that the 
mistletoe was held sacred by the Druids and the Celtic 
nations. The Gothic nations also attached extraordi- 
nary qualities to it, and it is said in the Edda to have 
been the cause of the death of Balder — the god of 
poetry and eloquence. 

At Jul or Yule, — the feast of the winter solstice, — 
the Druids used to gather the mistletoe with mys- 



CHRISTMAS WASSAILING. 4.9 

terious ceremony. It was cut from the oak with a 
golden sickle by the chief of the Druids himself, 
clothed in white : white bulls and even human sacri- 
fices are said to have been offered. These sacrifices 
were followed by a variety of festivities. 

When gathered, the mistletoe was " divided into small 
portions and distributed among the people, who hung 
up the sprays over the entrance to their dwellings as a 
propitiation and shelter to the sylvan deities during the 
season of frost and cold." 

Only those oaks which had the mistletoe upon them 
were held sacred by the Druids. " The reverence of 
the people towards the priests," says Mr. Hervey, " as 
well as their estimation of the mistletoe, proceeded in 
great measure from the cures which the former effected 
by means of the plant. Medicinal properties, we be- 
lieve, are still ascribed to it, and it was not long since 
deemed efficacious in the subduing of convulsive dis- 
orders. Sir John Colback, in his dissertation concern- 
ing it, observes that this beautiful plant must have 
been designed by the Almighty ' for further and more 
noble purposes than barely to feed thrushes, or to be 
hung up surreptitiously in houses to drive away evil 
spirits.' Against the latter, it appears to have been 
used as a charm, up to the last century." Coles, in the 
" Art of Simpling " (1656), says, that " If any one hang 
mistletoe about the neck the witches can have no 
power of him." 

Ecclesiastical councils have, from time to time, for- 
4 



5P CHRISTMAS WASSAILING. 

bidden the use of the mistletoe. Other Pagan cere- 
monies have been tolerated, or by adaptation, hallowed 
to Christian uses. Not so with the mistletoe, which 
in spite of its innocent-looking berries, has never been 
allowed to share in " benefit of clergy." Indeed, the 
priests and monks of the Middle Ages regarded the 
plant with superstitious horror, being in their celibate 
state unable to comprehend its attractive influence, ex- 
cept on the supposition of diabolical agency. 

According to a writer in " Notes and Queries," "mis- 
tletoe formerly had a place amongst Christmas decora- 
tions for churches, but was afterwards excluded. In 
the earlier ages of the Church, many festivities not 
tending to edification had crept in, mutual kissing 
amongst the number; but as this soon led to inde- 
corum, kissing and mistletoe were both very properly 
bundled out of the Church." 

According to Archdeacon Nares, the tradition is 
"that the maid who was not kissed under it at Christ- 
mas would not be married that year." 

In some places people try lots by the crackling of 
the leaves and berries in the fire. 

The mistletoe has become in modern times an article 
of commerce. From the statistics of this peculiar 
branch of trade, it would seem that Herefordshire 
produces the largest supply of any one county in Eng- 
land. As many as one hundred and twelve or one 
hundred and fourteen tons have been sent out of this 
western county in one season, besides many tons for- 



CHRISTMAS WASSAILING. 5 1 

warded to foreign countries, and the trade is said to be 
annually increasing. 

But if kissing at Christmas was regulated by the 
use of the mistletoe, wassailing appears to have been 
restricted by no such statute of limitation, for long 
after the berries of the mistletoe had disappeared, " the 
jolly wassail bowl went round." 

The custom seems to have been observed in the 
monasteries as well as in private houses. In front of 
the abbot, at the upper end of the refectory table, was 
placed the mighty bowl, styled in their language, Po- 
culum Caritatis, and from it the Superior drank to all, 
^.nd all drank in succession to each other. 

The Lord Arundel of Wardour has now in his pos- 
session a fine specimen of a wassail bowl of undoubted 
Anglo-saxon work, formerly belonging to the Abbey 
of Glastonbury ; it holds two quarts, and originally had 
eight pegs inside, dividing the liquor into half-pints ; 
on the lid is carved the Crucifixion, with the Virgin 
and St. John, one on each side ; and round the cup are 
carved the Twelve Apostles. 

A relic of the ancient custom of wassailing still ex- 
ists in the usage of certain corporation festivals. The 
person presiding stands up at the close of dinner, and 
drinks from a flagon, usually of silver, having a handle 
on each side, by which he holds it with each hand, and 
the toast-master announces him as drinking " the health 
of his brethren out of the ' loving cup' " The loving 
cup, which is the ancient wassail bowl is then passed 



52 CHRISTMAS WASSAILING. 

to the guest on his left hand, and by him to his left 
hand neighbor, and as it finds its way round the room 
to each guest in his turn, so each stands up and drinks 
to the president. 

Bishop Cox, in his " Impressions of England," de- 
scribing one of these festivals, — a dinner given by the 
Lord Mayor of London to the S. P. G., in 1851, — 
says, " The toast-master appeared behind his Lord- 
ship's chair and began : ' My Lord Archbishop of Can- 
terbury, my Lord Bishop of London,' and so on 
through the roll of bishops — ' my lords, ladies, and 
gentlemen, the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress greet 
you in a loving cup and give you a hearty welcome.' 

" The Mayor and Mayoress then rose, and taking the 
loving cup in hand, she uncovered it for him, with a 
graceful courtesy, to w r hich he returned a bow, and then 
drank, wiped the chalice with his napkin, allowed it to 
be covered, and then sat down, while the lady, turning 
to the Archbishop, who rose accordingly, repeated the 
ceremony, save that he uncovered the cup, and it was 
her turn to taste the draught. Thus the cup went 
round." 



CHAPTER VI. 



CHRISTMAS MUMMERIES. 




HE 



CUS- 

t o m 
of represent- 
ing at every sol- 
emn festival of 
the Church some 
event recorded in 
Scripture, became 
general in Christen- 
dom at a very early 
period. Gregory Na- 
zianzen, Patriarch of 
Constantinople, and 
others eminent in the 
Church, dramatized por- 
tions of the Old and New 
Testament, and substituted 
them for the Greek plays still 
publicly represented in their day. 
They were modeled on those of the ancient Greek 



J5 



54 CHRISTMAS MUMMERIES. 

tragedy, the choruses being turned into Christian 
hymns. One only of Gregory Nazianzen's plays — a 
tragedy called " Christ's Passion " — is extant. " The 
Christians found, in the wit and elegance of his writ- 
ings, all that they could desire in the heathen poets." 

Following the example of the Fathers, the clergy of 
the Middle Ages devised the mystery and miracle 
plays, with the view of interesting and instructing the 
people, a method which the parables of our Lord 
might be said to justify. The Bible and Church ser- 
• vice being then in an unknown tongue, it may readily 
be believed that the simple folk of those days derived 
the greater part of their theological and biblical knowl- 
edge from such religious shows. The mystery and 
miracle plays were composed of scriptural incidents, 
or, as Fitz-Stephen informs us, of " Representations of 
those miracles that were wrought by holy confessors ; 
or those passions and sufferings in which the martyrs 
so signally displayed their fortitude. The actors were 
the scholars of the clergy; the church itself was fre- 
quently used as the place of exhibition ; and the rich 
vestments and sacred furniture employed in the church 
service were sometimes permitted to be used by the 
performers, to give superior truth and lustre to their 
representations." 

Thus, on some special saint's day, says Mr. Wright, 
the choral boys, or the younger clergy, would perform 
" some striking act in the life of the saint commemo- 
rated, or, on particular festivals of the Church, those 



CHRISTMAS MUMMERIES. 55 

incidents of gospel history to which the festival espe- 
cially related. By degrees, a rather more imposing 
character was given to these performances by the addi- 
tion of a continuous dialogue, which, however, was 
written in Latin verse, and was no doubt chanted. 
This incipient drama, in Latin, as far as we know it, 
belongs to the twelfth century, and is represented by 
a large number of examples still preserved in mediaeval 
manuscripts. Some of the earliest of these have for 
their author a pupil of the celebrated Abelard, who 
Jived in the first half of the twelfth century, named 
Hilarius, and is understood to have been by birth an 
Englishman. Hilarius appears as a playful Latin poet, 
and among a number of short pieces, which may be 
almost called lyric ; he has left us three of these re- 
ligious plays. The subject of the first is the raising of 
Lazarus from the Dead, the chief peculiarity of which 
consists of the songs of Lamentation, placed in the 
mouths of the two .sisters of Lazarus, Mary and Mar- 
tha. The second represents one of the miracles attrib- 
uted to St. Nicholas ; and the third, the history of 
Daniel. The latter is longer and more elaborate than 
the others, and at its conclusion, the stage directions 
tell us that, "if it were performed at matins, Darius, 
king of the Medes and Persians, was to chant Te Deum 
Laudamus ; but if it were at vespers, the great king 
was to chant Magnificat Anima mea Dominumr 

" These church plays," continues Mr. Wright, " con- 
sisted of two descriptions of subjects : they either rep- 



5 6 CHRISTMAS MUMMERIES. 

resented the miraculous acts of certain saints, which 
had a plain meaning; or some incident taken from 
Holy Scripture, which was supposed to have a hidden, 
mysterious signification, as well as an apparent one; 
and hence the one class of subjects was usually spoken 
of simply as miraculum, a miracle ; and the other as 
mysterium^ a mystery." 

At a later day appeared the moralities, or allegorical 
dramas. 

To relieve the gravity of these performances, and to 
add to their popularity, interludes, or farcical represen- 
tations were introduced. These became so exceedingly 
popular with the masses, that the religious character of 
the play or drama was soon lost sight of in the buffoon- 
ery that accompanied them. 

" We have a proof," says Mr. Wright, " that the Latin 
religious plays, and the festivities in which they were 
employed, had become greatly developed in the twelfth 
century, in the notice taken of them in the ecclesias- 
tical councils of that period. So early as the papacy 
of Gregory VI II., the pope urged the clergy 'to extir- 
pate' from their churches these theatrical plays, and 
other festive practices, which were not quite in har- 
mony with the sacred character of the buildings." Sim- 
ilar prohibition of the acting of such plays in churches 
are met with at subsequent periods. 

- In spite of ecclesiastical censures, however, they 
continued to flourish, being taken up by the guilds and 
municipal corporations. Certain annual religious fes- 



CHRISTMAS MUMMERIES. 57 

tivals were still the occasions on which the plays were 
acted ; but they were taken entirely out of the churches, 
and the performances took place in the open streets. 
Each guild in a town had its pageant, and its own 
actors, who performed in masks and costumes, and 
each had one of a series of plays, which were per- 
formed at places where they halted in the procession. 

In the reign of Richard II., dramas were represented 
by the society of parish clerks. The fraternity had' 
been incorporated into a guild about the year 1240, 
under the patronage of St. Nicholas. Chaucer has 
painted the parish clerk as the jolly Absolon, in a 
white surplice, with curly hair, red stockings, and 
fashionable shoes. " It was anciently customary," says 
Mr. Godwin, " for men and women of the first quality, 
ecclesiastics and others, who were lovers of church 
music, to be admitted into this corporation; and they 
gave large gratuities for the support and education of 
persons practiced in this art. This society were usu- 
ally hired as a band of vocal performers to assist at the 
funerals of the nobility or other distinguished persons. 

In the year 1391, the society played interludes in 
the fields at Skinner's Well for three days, Richard 
the Second, with his queen and court, being among the 
spectators. Again, in the year 1409, the clerks played 
at Skinner's Well, for eight days, " Matter from the 
Creation of the World," a great assembly of the noble- 
men of England being present. The " Matter from 
the Creation of the World," meant, doubtless, such a 



5 8 CHRISTMAS MUMMERI-ES. 

cycle of Scripture histories, from the creation down- 
wards, as is to be found in the extant sets of Miracle 
Plays, performed at York, Chester, and Coventry. 

In the sixteenth century the Reformers, so far from 
condemning these entertainments, themselves, com- 
piled plays, not only for the purpose of exposing the 
corruptions of the Church, but with the view also of 
instructing the people in faith and morals. Many of 
these plays are still extant. Bishop Bale, the author of 
" God's Promises ; a Tragedy or Interlude," does not 
scruple to put upon the theatrical stage, an imperson- 
ation of the heavenly Father. A still more remark- 
able piece of irreverence is to be found in his play, 
entitled, " Brefe Comedy, or Enterlude of Johan Bap- 
tystes preachyng in the Wyldernesse," etc. The actors 
in this piece are Pater Ccelestis, Joannes Baptistes, 
Publicanus, Pharisaeus, Jesus Christus, Turba Vulga- 
ris, Miles Armatus, and Sadducseus. 

Among the devices employed in its representation 
was a mechanical contrivance which produced a sem- 
blance of the Holy Ghost descending in the form of 
a dove, " Descendit tunc" runs one of the stage direc- 
tions, " super Christum Spiritus Sanctus in columbce 
specie, et vox pair is de ccelo audietur hoc modo" More- 
over, in his play of " Kyng Johan," Bale has not hesi- 
tated to introduce indecent jests, the coarseness of 
which rivaled those of a much earlier age. " This 
play," an edition of which was recently published by 
the Camden Society, " is not only a remarkable work 



CHRISTMAS MUMMERIES. 59 

of a remarkable man," says Mr. Wright, "but it may 
be considered as the first rude model of the English 
historical drama." * 

The " ludi" or Christmas plays, formerly exhibited 
at court, were *of quite a different character from those 
described above. It is said they can be traced back 
certainly as far as the reign of Edward III.; and they 
are by some thought to be much older. The dresses 
appropriated in 1348 to one of these plays, show that 
they were mummeries, and not theatrical divertise- 
ments. The King (Edward III.) then kept his Christ- 
mas at his Castle at Guildford, the " keep " of which 
remains to this day. The dresses on that occasion, it 
is said, consisted of eighty tunics of buckram of vari- 
ous colors ; forty-two vizors ; fourteen faces of women ; 
fourteen of men ; and fourteen heads of angels made 
with silver ; twenty-eight crests ; fourteen mantles em- 
broidered with heads of dragons ; fourteen white 
tunics, wrought with the heads and wings of peacocks ; 
fourteen with the heads and wings of swans ; fourteen 
tunics, painted with the eyes of peacocks ; fourteen 
tunics of English linen, painted; and fourteen other 
tunics embroidered with stars of gold. 

The magnificent pageants and disguisings frequently 
exhibited at court, in succeeding reigns, and especially 
in the reign of Henry VIII., were but a species of 

1 " Many years after our drama was mature," says Mr. Morley, "reminders of 
its old ways lingered at Bartholomew Fair, and there, perhaps, took place the last 
performance of a miracle play in this country." 



60 CHRISTMAS MUMMERIES. 

mummeries destitute of character and humor ; their 
chief aim being to surprise the spectators "by the 
ridiculous and exaggerated oddity of the vizors, and by 
the singularity and splendor of the dresses ; — every- 
thing was out of nature and propriety." 

Stowe thus describes a remarkable mummery made 
by the citizens of London in 1377, for the disport of 
the young Prince Richard, son to the Black Prince: — 

"They rode, disguised and well horsed, 130 in number, with min- 
strels and torch-lights of wax, to Kennington beside Lambeth, where 
the young. Prince remained with his mother. These maskers alight- 
ed, entered the Palace Hall, and set to the Prince and his mother 
and lords, cups and rings of gold, which they won at a cast ; after 
which they feasted, and the Prince and lords danced with the mum- 
mers, which jollity being ended, they were made to drink," etc. 

The plays exhibited in the country at this season 
appear to have been of a more mixed character. Such 
were the Cornish mummeries, or miracle plays ; which 
were never performed as elsewhere in churches, but in 
an earthen amphitheatre in some open field. These 
continued to be exhibited long after the abolition of 
the miracle plays and moralities in other parts of the 
kingdom. Accordingly we find them lingering in 
Cornwall even to the present time ; and there, as also in 
Devonshire and Staffordshire, the old spirit of Christ- 
mas is kept up with great earnestness. 

In the North of England there remains a species 
of mumming called the sword dance. " This," says 



CHRISTMAS MUMMERIES. 6 1 

Mr. Henderson, " may yet be looked for in most towns 
from the Humber to the Cheviot Hills." There are 
some trifling local variations both in dance and song ; 
the latter has altered with the times ; the former is 
plainly a relic of the war dances of our Danish and 
Saxon ancestors. Tacitus thus describes a sword dance 
among the ancient Germans : — 

" One public diversion was constantly exhibited at all their meet- 
ings ; young men, who by frequent exercise have attained to great 
perfection in that pastime, strip themselves, and dance among the 
points of swords and spears, with most wonderful agility, and even 
with the most elegant and graceful motions. They do not perform 
this dance for hire, but for the entertainment of the spectators, 
esteeming their applause a sufficient reward." 

Mr. Brand also tells us that he has seen this dance 
frequently performed in the North of England, about 
Christmas, with little or no variation from the ancient 
method; and Washington Irving refers to the custom 
in the "Sketch Book." 

There is also a relic of the ancient mystery and 
miracle plays to be found in the more modern Christ- 
mas mummeries ; especially in that popular play of 
" St. George and the Dragon." This is still repre- 
sented in some parts of England by a sort of dramatic 
corps headed by " Father Christmas." 1 These mum- 
mers go abroad and about the country on Christmas 
Eve, performing this mock play in the halls of the 
gentry and in the kitchens of farm-houses. 

1 See Appendix. 



62 CHRISTMAS MUMMERIES. 

According to the " Golden Legend," on which this 
old play is founded, the city of Sylene, being infested 
with a dragon in the marsh, and the sheep failing, — 
which had been given, two a day, to prevent his hurt- 
ing the people, — an ordinance substituted children 
and young people, to be chosen by lot, whether rich 
or poor. The king's daughter was drawn, and St. 
George happening to pass by when she was on her 
way to be devoured, fought and killed the dragon. 

This legend is doubtless based on the spiritual com- 
bat mentioned in the Apocalypse, in which Michael 
the Archangel triumphs over " that old serpent, the 
Devil." 

In 1849 this still very popular drama of " St. George 
and the Dragon " was acted on the floor of the Free 
Trade Hall in Manchester, where it is customary 
to celebrate the Epiphany, called Old Christmas or 
Twelfth Day, with many ancient forms and ceremo- 
nies. 

Before closing this subject a few words should be 
said in regard to the Christmas tree, a representation 
of which forms the initial letter of this chapter. 

This most picturesque of mediaeval pageants, tow- 
ering aloft with undiminished glory, festooned with 
garlands of gold and silver paper, sparkling with its 
myriad lights, still presents an enchanting vision to 
thousands of happy children here as well as abroad. 

The custom of decorating the Christmas tree is of 
great antiquity, and is even supposed to be of Pagan 



CHRISTMAS MUMMERIES. 63 

origin. "The Christian Remembrancer" (1868), speak- 
ing of it, says that Chevalier Bunsen contributed to 
Christianize a heathen custom "by placing a picture 
of the Madonna della Seggiola amid the tapers so as 
to illuminate the loveliest infant representation of Him 
who brought good gifts unto men ; and thus to sanctify 
the ancient German custom of hanging gifts on a tree, 
dating from the time of heathen life in a forest." 

However, the representation of the Christ-child ap- 
pears to have figured in the decorations of the tree 
from a very early date. 

In Scandinavian countries the custom is to dress up 
some one — usually a young girl — as the Christ-child, 
with a crown of gilt-foil, and fair outstretched wings of 
white paper. 

It is said, that Luther, in his family, celebrated 
Christmas Eve according to the German custom. In 
an engraving, published in Leipsic, the great Reformer, 
who was fond of children and music, is thus repre- 
sented playing upon a gittern, an instrument not unlike 
the modern guitar. 

The Christmas tree has been but recently introduced 
into England and America, although in Pennsylvania, 
where many of the settlers are of German origin, there 
has been an observance of the custom from early Col- 
ony times. Christmas Eve is there observed with 
many of the ceremonies practiced in the Fatherland. 
The Christmas tree branches forth in all its splendor, 
and the Christ-child, according to the German legend, 



64 CHRISTMAS MUMMERIES. 

comes flying through the air on golden wings, and 
causes the bough to produce in the night all manner 
of fruit, gilt sweetmeats, apples, nuts, etc., for the good 
children. 

In Germany, accompanying the Christmas tree, there 
is a personification of the good St. Nicholas, known as 
Pumpernickel or Pelsnickol, that is, Nicholas with the 
Fur. He is usually represented with a long gray 
beard, a hooded cloak spotted with snow-flakes, a bun- 
dle over his shoulder, a toy in one hand, and a bundle 
of rods in the other ; or else he appears in a long furred 
pelisse, trimmed with ivy-leaves, with a green sash 
round his waist, and a bear-skin cap on his head. 

There is usually, especially in the Rhineland, 1 a 
carpet of moss surrounding the tree, with a little land- 
scape, often very beautiful and expensive, made of toy- 
houses, sheep, cattle, and men, adorned with running 
water, and everything to make it look as natural as 
possible. This landscape is an important part of the 
Christmas tree, and is called the Krippe or manger. 

In Roman Catholic countries there is also a scenic 
representation of the Nativity. There is the manger 
with the holy babe, the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph, 
the magi, the shepherds and their flocks ; but instead 
of being arranged around the Christmas tree, as in 
Protestant Germany, they are exhibited in the side- 

1 " In the Rhineland one can buy for a few groschen, in the toy-shops, large 
cardboard Krippes, which are intended to be cut out, gummed together, and 
placed under the Christmas trees." — Hartford Churchman, Jan. i, 1876. 



CHRISTMAS MUMMERIES. 65 

aisle or chapel of a church. John Locke, the philoso- 
pher, in a letter dated from Cleves in 1664, says : " Near 
the high altar, in the principal church at Cleves, was 
a little altar for the service of Christmas Day. The 
scene was a stable, wherein was an ox, an ass, a cradle, 
the Virgin, the Babe, Joseph, shepherds and angels, 
dramatis personcz. Had they but given them motion, 
it had been a perfect puppet-play, and might have de- 
served pence a-piece; for they were of the same size 
and make that our English puppets are; and, I am 
confident, these shepherds and this Joseph are kin to 
that Judith and Holof ernes which I had seen at Bar- 
tholomew Fair." 

At the Franciscan Church, in Rome, these represen- 
tations are famous and costly, and still attract throngs 
of admiring worshipers. Goethe, writing from Rome 
in 1787, describes such a dramatic Christmas-Eve ser- 
vice in one of the churches : " The music was so 
arranged, that in its tone nothing belonging to pastoral 
music was wanting, — neither the singing of the shep- 
herds, nor the twittering of birds, nor the bleating of 
sheep." 

The following anecdote, from a French writer, proves 
that mediaeval dramatic representations or religious 
shows had not quite fallen into disuse even in the 
beginning of this nineteenth century: "In 1821, a 
priest was appointed, shortly before Christmas, the 
curate of a village in Flanders, of whose customs he 
was ignorant. He had just begun the Midnight Mass, 

5 



66 CHRISTMAS MUMMERIES. 

when he was startled by seeing an artificial star flash- 
ing above his head. At this signal the doors of the 
Church opened and forthwith there entered several 
shepherds and shepherdesses, leaping and dancing with 
joy and leading some of their sheep. The curate, 
bewildered with the scene, wished to interpose his 
authority; he was as little understood by the shep- 
herds as their sheep ; the latter, as well as the former, 
persisting in the singular ceremony till it was con- 
cluded. Offerings of eggs and of cheese were then 
laid at the foot of the holy cradle (or crache), and the 
exulting throng departed." 



CHAPTER VII. 



ST. NICHOLAS, OR THE BOY BISHOP. 




MONG 

the 
reli- 
gious 
shows, which, like 
the mystery and mir- 
acle plays, gave life and 
animation to the Christ- 
mas festivities of our 
forefathers, were the 
ceremonies attendant 
upon the installation of 
the mock prelate known 
as the Boy or Barne- 
Bishop. 

" The accounts of the 
origin of this curious 
custom have been," says Mr. Fosbrooke," elucidated 
into obscurity r It is said to have been founded on 
this story in the " Legend of St. Nicholas " : — 



68 ST. NICHOLAS, OR THE BOY BISHOP. 

" A bishop who had been elected to a vacant see, was warned by 
a dream to go to the doors of the church at the hour of matins, 
and ' hym that sholde fyrste come to the chyrche, and have the 
name of Nicholas, they sholde sacre hym Bissop,' — that is, one 
bishop was superceded by another." — Gold. Leg. 29 b. 

" The memory of this saint and Bishop Nicholas 
was thus solemnized by a child," says Dr. Tanner, 
Bishop of St. Asaph (1732), "the better to remember 
the holy man, even when he was a child, and his child- 
like vertues, when he became a man. The Popish 
festival tells us, that while he lade in his cradle, he 
fasted Wednesdays and Fridays, sucking but once a 
day on those days. And his meekness and simplicity, 
the proper vertues of children, he maintained from his 
childhood as long as he lived : And therefore, saith the 
Festival, children don him worship before all other 
saints." 

" The ceremony of the Boy Bishop prevailed in England as early 
as the reign of Edward the First ; for that Prince, on his way to 
Scotland, in the year 1299, permitted one of these boy bishops to 
say vespers before him in his chapel at Heton, near Newcastle- 
upon-Tyne, making a present to the performers of forty shil- 
lings, no inconsiderable sum in those days." — Wardrobe Account, 
28 Ed. I. 

Hone, on this subject, says : — 

"Anciently, on the 6th of December (St. Nicholas' Day), the 
choir-boys in cathedral and collegiate churches chose one of their 
number to maintain the state and authority of a bishop ; for which 
purpose he was habited in rich episcopal robes, wore a mitre on 
his head, and bore a crozier in his hand ; * his fellows for the time 

1 See Appendix, Northumberland Household Bodk. 






ST. NICHOLAS, OR THE BOY BISHOP. 69 

being assuming the character and dress of priests, yielding him 
canonical obedience, taking possession of the church, and, except 
mass, performing all the ceremonies and offices, and on Holy Inno- 
cents' Day, actually preaching a sermon to the assembled congre- 
gation." 

There is a monument of such a child-bishop who 
died while in office, situated on the north side of 
Salisbury Cathedral, on which is sculptured the figure 
of a youth clad in episcopal robes, with his foot on a 
lion-headed and dragon-tailed monster, in allusion to 
the expression of the Psalmist, " Thou shalt tread on 
the lion and the dragon." 

Although there resulted much actual profanity from 
the above prescribed ritualistic observances, yet there 
seems to have been nothing irreverent intended by 
them, for we find that whatever was strictly sacra- 
mental in its nature, or that properly belonged to the 
priestly office, was not originally permitted or exer- 
cised by these mimic prelates. 

"Our ancestors," says Fosbrooke, "used all these 
mummeries, as we now do the catechism, to impress 
principles upon the minds of their children." 

The election of this " Episcopus Puerorum," or 
Episcopus Choristorum, always took place on St. 
Nicholas' Day in England, and as St. Nicholas was 
the patron saint of school-boys and choristers, the Boy- 
Bishop naturally became identified in name with his 
patron saint. Thus, " St. Nicholas," as he was called, 
became a person of great consequence, perambulating 



70 S2: NICHOLAS, OR THE BOY BISHOP. 

both town and country, habited as a bishop, " in pon- 
tificalibus," with his fellow choristers also in appro- 
priate vestments, singing carols, etc., being in fact 
Christmas personified, or " Old Father Christmas." 

From a printed church-book containing the service 
of the Boy-Bishop, set to music, we learn that on the 
eve of Innocents' Day, the Boy-Bishop and his youth- 
ful clergy, in their copes, and with burning tapers in 
their hands, went in solemn procession, chanting and 
singing versicles as they walked into the choir by the 
west door, in such order that the dean and canons 
went foremost, the chaplains next, and the Boy-Bishop, 
with his priests, in the last and highest place. He 
then took his seat, and the rest of the children dis- 
posed themselves upon each side of the choir, upon 
the uppermost ascent ; the canons resident (reversing 
the usual order) bearing the incense and the book, and 
the petit-canons the tapers, according to the Rubric. 
Afterwards he proceeded to the altar of the Holy 
Trinity and All Saints, which he first censed, and next 
the Image of the Holy Trinity, his priests all the while 
singing. Then they all chanted a service with prayers 
and responses, and, in the like manner taking his seat, 
the Boy-Bishop repeated salutations, prayers, and ver- 
sicles ; and, in conclusion, gave his benediction to the 
people, the chorus answering, " Deo Gratias." After 
he _ received his crozier from the cross-bearer, other 
ceremonies were performed, and he chanted the com- 
pline ; turning toward the choir he delivered an ex- 



ST. NICHOLAS, OR THE BOY BISHOP. 7 1 

hortation, and last of all pronounced the benedic- 
tion. 

In process of time, however, all this seemingly 
orderly behavior was changed for the worse. It 
appeared that boys would be boys, and that they mixed 
up with these regularly appointed services the buffoon- 
eries of the so-called " Feast of Fools," and of " The 
Ass," and instead of psalms and hymns, were now 
" sung or said " indecent songs and jests ; and in place 
of the fragrance of incense, there were substituted all 
sorts of unsavory abominations. 

The " Festum Fatuorum," or Feast of Fools, was 
more ancient and more widely celebrated than the 
Feast of the Ass. It may be traced in all ages of the 
Church, and in all parts of Christendom. It was, in 
fact, the old heathen festival of the January Calends. 
Council after council attest that all regular ecclesias- 
tical authority perpetually opposed these festivals. 1 

According to Maitland, these farcical entertainments 
were not exhibited in churches until comparatively 

1 The Council of Rome, A. D. 744, forbids celebrating New Year's Day with 
pagan ceremonies. The Council of Paris, 12 13, enjoins the abolition of the Fes- 
tival of Fools, celebrated every 1st of January. The Council of Cognac, 1260, 
" Forbids an ancient custom of dancing within the Church on the day of the Fes- 
tival of the Holy Innocents, and choosing a mock bishop." The Council of Saltz- 
burg, 1274, abolishes the sport practiced by ecclesiastics in their churches called 
the Boy Bishop. Council of Toledo or Arenda (Dec. 5, 1473), forbids the custom 
of performing at certain times spectacles, etc., and singing songs and uttering 
profane discourses in churches. The Council of Narbonne, 1551, forbids shows, 
dances, etc., in churches on festival days, and the Council of Florence forbids 
every sort of scenic representation by the clergy without the Bishop's written 
permission. 



72 ST. NICHOLAS, OR THE BOY BISHOP. 

modern times. He cites, for authority, a writer of the 
twelfth century, said to have belonged to the Church of 
Amiens, who mentioned that there were some churches 
in which it was customary for the bishops and arch- 
bishops to join in the Christmas games, which went on 
in the monasteries in their dioceses, and even so far to 
relax as to play at ball ; but this is the only account he 
had met of any participation by the Church (during the 
dark ages), in this " Libertas Decembrica," as it was 
called. 

Du Cange shows that something like a mock conse- 
cration of the Bishop of Fools was performed in the 
East in the ninth century, by the laity in derision of 
the clergy, and that it was forbidden by the Church ; a 
Council declaring it to be a thing before unheard of. 
According to Fosbroke some lay Greeks introduced 
this singular custom into the West : — 

" About the year 990 the Patriarch Theophylact invented or 
adopted religious pantomimes or farces, since known by the name 
of Feast of Fools, Feast of the Ass, Feast of the Innocents, etc., 
in the hopes of weaning the people from the bacchanalian and cal- 
endary rules and other pagan ceremonies by the substitution of 
Christian spectacles. These spectacles passed into Italy. On the 
day of the festival (which Cowel makes the Caput Anni, or New 
Year's Day), all the petty Canons elected an Abbot of Fools, who 
after the ceremony and Te Deum, was chaired to a place where the 
others were assembled. At his entrance all arose, and even the 
Bishop, if present, was bound to pay him homage. Wine, fruit, and 
spices were next served to him. Singing, hissing, howling, shout- 
ing, etc., then followed, one party against another. A short dia- 



ST NICHOLAS, OR THE BOY BISHOP, J 3 

logue succeeded ; after which a porter made a mock sermon. They 
then went out into the town, cracking jokes upon everybody whom 
they met. In these visits which lasted every day from the vigil of 
Christmas till the evening, the Abbot wore a dress, whether a man- 
tle, tabard, or cope with a hoop of vair ; it was his place, if any- 
thing indecorous was done in the choir, to correct and chastise it. 
On the Feast of Innocents, a Fool-Bishop was elected in the same 
manner as the Abbot of Fools, and chaired with a little bell rung 
before, to the house of the Bishop, where the gates were to be im- 
mediately thrown open, and the mock prelate placed in a principal 
window, where he stood and gave the benediction towards the 
town." 

In Paris from a. d. 1198 to 1438 the Festival of 
Fools was held on the first of January, when all sorts 
of absurdities were perpetrated. It appears from an 
encyclical of the theologians of Paris, 1444, referred to 
by Du Cange, that latterly the clergy encouraged these 
fooleries, and attempted to purify them by mixing up 
with them fastings and entertainments. 

The so-called " Feast of the Ass " does not appear 
to have been always among these mere farcical en- 
tertainments, but to have had sometimes a more serious 
and dignified character, at least such was that celebrated 
in the cathedral at Rouen. Du Cange gives from the 
ordinal of that cathedral, the office or rubric, or stage 
directions of the office appointed for the Feast of 
Asses, which was a sort of interlude annually per- 
formed at Rouen and in some other churches at Christ- 
mas. It is a manuscript of the fifteenth century, but 
it contains only the initiatory words of each part ; the 



74 ST. NICHOLAS, OR THE BOY BISHOP. 

dramatis per s once appear to have been numerous and 
miscellaneous. From the description, it might be very 
properly termed a Miracle Play. There were Jews and 
Gentiles, the representatives of their various bodies ; all 
the prophets of the Old Testament and the Sibyl 1 
were personified, variously attired, and predicting the 
birth of the Redeemer. Moses being arrayed in an 
albe and cope, with the appearance of a horned glory 
over his head, a long beard and a staff, and the Tables 
of the Law in his hands ; Amos as an old man with a 
beard, holding an ear of wheat ; Isaiah in an albe with 
a red stole bound round his head, and a long beard ; 
Jeremiah in the vestments of a priest, a long beard and 
a scroll in his hand 

" Then Balaam, dressed and sitting upon an Ass, 2 — whence the 
festival took its name, — having spurs upon his heels, is to hold the 
bridle and spur the ass ; a young man with a drawn sword is to 
stand in the ass's way, and some one creeping under the belly of 
the ass is to cry out ' Cur me calcaribus miseram sic laeditis ? ' 
Thereupon an angel speaking to him shall say, ' Desine Regis Balac 
pneceptum perficere.' Voices call to Balaam ; Balaam seems to be 
prophesying ; then Balaam responds, ' Exibit ex Jacob rutilans,' 
etc." — Numb. xxiv. 17. 

From the Missal composed for the service of the 
Feast of the Ass by an Archbishop of Sens, who died 

1 " The poet Virgil was introduced singing monkish rhymes, as a Gentile 
prophet and a translator of the Sibylline oracles." — Hone's Mysteries and Relig- 
ious Shows. 

2 According to Hone the animal was of wood and inclosed a speaker. 



ST. NICHOLAS, OR THE BOY BISHOP. 75 

in 1222, M. Millin has given an account of a singularly 
droll ceremony : — 

" On the eve of the day appointed for the celebration before ves- 
pers, the clergy went in procession to the door of the cathedral, 
where two choristers sung in a minor key, or rather, squeaking 
voices : — 

" 'Lux hodie, lux letitiae, me judice, tristis 

Quisquis erit, removendus erit, solemnibus istis 
Sicut hodie, procul invidiam, procul omnia maesta 
Laeta volunt, quicumque celibret asinaria festa.' 

" ' Light to-day, the light of joy — I banish every sorrow ; 

Wherever found, be it expelled from our solemnities to-morrow. 
Away be strife and grief and care, from every anxious breast, 
And all be joy and glee in those who keep the Ass's Feast.' 

" The anthem being concluded, two canons were deputed to fetch 
the Ass to the table, where the great chanter sat, to read the order 
of the ceremonies, and the names of those who were to assist in 
them. The animal, clad with precious priestly ornaments, was sol- 
emnly conducted to the middle of the choir, during which proces- 
sion a hymn in praise of the Ass was sung in a major key. Its first 
and last stanzas have been thus Englished : — 

" ' From the country of the East 

Came this strong and handsome beast, 
This able Ass, — beyond compare, 
Heavy loads and packs to bear. 
Huzza, Seignor Ass, Huzza ! 

" ' Amen ! bray, most honour'd Ass, 
Sated now with grain and grass ; 
Amen repeat, Amen reply, 
And disregard antiquity. 
Huzza, Seignor Ass, Huzza ! ' 

" The office being in the same style throughout was sung in the 
most discordant manner possible. The service itself lasted the 



76 ST. NICHOLAS, OR THE BOY BISHOP. 

whole of the night and part of the next day ; it was a rhapsody of 
whatever was sung in the course of the year at the usual church fes- 
tivals, and formed altogether the strangest and most ridiculous med- 
ley imaginable. When the choristers in this long performance were 
thirsty, wine was unsparingly distributed, and the signal for that 
part of the ceremony was an anthem commencing ' Conductus ad 
poculum,' — ' Brought to the glass J " , " The vespers on the second 
day were ended with an invitation to dinner in the form of an an- 
them like the rest, 'Conductus ad prandium,' — 'Brought to din- 



Dr. Douce, F. S. A., says that the earliest mention 
of the Festum Fatuorum in England is in the reign of 
Henry IV. The grosser features of it do not appear 
to have found much favor with the English, whether 
owing to the good sense or the piety of our forefathers, 
it does not seem to have long survived the preaching 
and influence of Wickliffe. Dr. Douce says it was 
abolished about the end of the fourteenth century. 1 

But the ceremony of the Boy-Bishop in spite of the 
gross fooleries that had become mixed up with it, sur- 
vived until the time of Henry VIII. That monarch, 
influenced doubtless by his animosity to the monks — 
the chief patrons of these festivals — determined to 
abolish all such superstitious observances as the cere- 

1 Dr. Douce describes a girdle which tradition reports to have been worn 
by the Abbot of Fools, in the cathedral of Dijon, on his election into office. 
It consists of thirty-five square pieces of wood, so contrived as to let into each 
other, by which means it easily assumes a circular form. On these are carved a 
variety of ludicrous and grotesque figures, consisting of fools, tumblers, hunts- 
men, and animals, with others, that from their licentiousness, do not admit of a 
particular description. 



ST. NICHOLAS, OR THE BOY BISHOP. 77 

monial of the Boy-Bishop. In a royal proclamation, 
1542, the King says : — - 

M 

" Whereas heretofore dyvers and many superstitious and chyld- 
ysh observaunces have be used, and yet to this day are observed and 
kept in many and sundry partes of this realm, as upon Saint Nicho- 
las, the Holie Innocents, and such like ; children be strangelie 
decked and apparayled to counterfeit priests, bishops, and women, 
and be ledde with songes and dances from house to house, blessing 
the people and gathering of money ; and boyes do singe masse and 
preach in the pulpitt, with such other unflttinge and inconvenient 
usages rather to the derysyon than anie true glory of God, or hon- 
our of his Sayntes : the Kynge's Majestie wylleth and commandeth 
that henceforth all such superstitious observations be left and clerely 
extinguished throwout all this realme and dominions," etc. 

And yet this " superstitious and chyldysh " observ- 
ance did not seem so objectionable to the learned and 
pious Dean Colet, the friend of Erasmus and Sir 
Thomas More, and one of the most illustrious precur- 
sors of the English Reformation, for in the statutes of 
the famous school founded by him (15 12) (attached to 
St. Paul's cathedral), it is ordained that all his scholars 
" shall every Childermas day come to Paulis churche 
and hear the childe bishop sermon ; and after be at the 
hygh masse, and each of them offer a i d to the childe 
bysshop, and with them, the maisters and surveyors of 
the scole." 

Perhaps Dean Colet was quite as competent to judge 
of the expediency of such a ceremony as either the 
king or his advisers, it being, doubtless, the Dean's in- 
tention to reform rather than to destroy an ancient 



7& ST. NICHOLAS, OR THE BOY BISHOP. 

institution. However, in the reactionary times of 
Queen Mary, the proclamation of Henry VIII. was 
disregarded. According to Strype, an edict was issued 
November 13, 1554, by the Bishop of London, to all 
the clergy of his diocese, to have the procession of a 
Boy-Bishop. And again, " On the 5th of December, 
or St. Nicholas Eve, of the same year, ' at even song', 
came a commandment that St. Nicholas should not go 
abroad or about ; but notwithstanding, it seems, so 
much were the citizens taken with the ' mask' of St. 
Nicholas (that is, Boy-Bishop), that there went about 
these St. Nicholases in divers parishes." 

Again, Strype informs us, that " In 1556, on the eve 
of his day, St. Nicholas, that is, a boy habited like a 
bishop, ' in pontificalibus,' went abroad in most parts 
of London, singing after the old fashion, and was re- 
ceived with many ignorant but well-disposed people 
into their houses, and had as much good cheer as ever 
was wont to be had before, at least in many places." 

From this time, St. Nicholas appears to have gone 
no more abroad " in pontificalibus," his authority being 
now restricted to the castles and halls of the nobility 
and gentry, where, in chapels, halls, and kitchens, rival- 
ing those of the king himself, the Mock Prelate 
transformed into the Christmas Prince continued his 
rule " with uncontrolled sway." 

J3en Jonson, in his " Masque," presented at court in 
1 6 16, has represented such a Lord of Misrule in the 
character of Old Father Christmas, attired in round 



ST. NICHOLAS, OR THE BOY BISHOP. 79 

hose, long stockings, a close doublet, a high-crowned 
hat, with a broach, a long thin beard, a truncheon, little 
ruffs, white shoes, his scarfs and garters tied across, 
and his drum beaten before him. 

St. Nicholas now appears as a convert to the princi- 
ples of the Reformation : " Ha! would you ha' kept 
me out ? Christmas, Old Christmas, Christmas of Lon- 
don, and Captain Christmas Why, I am no 

dangerous Person, and so I told my Friends o' the 
Guard. I am old Gregory Christmas still, and though 
I come out of Popes- Head- Alley, as good a Protestant 
as any i' my Parish." 

Our Boy-Bishop, thus transformed, was now sur- 
rounded by a goodly family of children, 1 instead of a 
chapter of petty Canons as in Pre-Reformation times. 

The plea of Protestantism, however, did not satisfy 
the suspicious Puritanical spirit of that age, for during 
the civil wars of the seventeenth century, we find him 
and his children, mince-pie and plum porridge in- 
cluded, solemnly banished the land by Act of Parlia- 
ment. 

But if the Long Parliament could expel him from 
England, it could not prevent his taking up his abode 
among the more tolerant Dutch in the " New Nether- 
lands," and there, according to Knickerbocker's " His- 
tory of New York," " he has continued to flourish at 
Christmas in spite of the ' Blue Laws ' of the neigh- 

1 The names of the children were Misrule, Caroll, Minc'd Pie, Gambol, Post 
and Pair, New Year's Gift, Mumming, Wassail Offering and Babie-Cocke. 



8o 



ST. NfCHOLAS, OR THE BOY BISHOP. 



boring Puritanical State of Connecticut." He does 
not now, however, go any more abroad, habited " in 
pontificalibus." Having turned Presbyterian, he con- 
tents himself with the ordinary guise of a Dutchman, 
heavily furred, and has also exchanged his wassail- 
bowl for the " bowl " of a short Dutch pipe, with which 
he has completely mystified and befogged the intellect 
of his old Puritanical enemies. 




CHAPTER VIII. 



CHRISTMAS GAMBOLS. 




lia, a 



N the 
gold- 
en age 
we are 
endeavoring to describe, 
Christmas gambols, and 
indeed holiday festivities of 
all kinds were presided over 
by a " Lord of Misrule," or 
" Christmas Prince," as he 
was sometimes termed in 
Colleges and Inns of Court. 
The rights and privileges 
of this potentate are by 
some believed to be derived 
from the Roman Saturna- 
festival instituted in commemoration of the free- 



82 CHRISTMAS GAMBOLS. 

dom and equality which once prevailed on the earth 
in the golden reign of Saturn. 

Faber speaks of them as originating in an old Per- 
sico-gothic festival in honor of Buddha ; and Purchas, in 
his " Pilgrimage," as quoted in the Aubrey manuscripts, 
says, that the custom is deduced from " the Feast in 
Babylon, kept in honour of the goddess Dorcetha, for 
five dayes together; during which time the masters 
were under the dominion of their servants, one of 
which is usually sett over the rest, and royally cloathed, 
and was called Sogan, that is, Great Prince." 

The ancient Jews, also, had at their merry-making 
a sort of Lord of Misrule, or " Symposiarch," whose 
duty it was to promote the general hilarity. " If thou 
be made the master of the feast," says the author of 
" Ecclesiasticus," " take diligent care for them, and 
when thou hast done all thy office, take thy place that 
thou mayest be merry with them, and receive a crown 
for thy well ordering of the feast." 

But whatever may have been the origin of the office, 
the authority of the Lord of Misrule was generally 
acknowledged in England previous to the civil wars 
of the seventeenth century. 

Hollingshed informs us that — 

" What time there is alwayes one appointed to make sporte at 
Courte, called commonly, Lord of Misrule, whose office is not un- 
knowne to such as have been brought up in nobleman's houses, 
and among great housekeepers, which use liberal feasting in the 
season." 



CHRISTMAS GAMBOLS. 8 



5 



Stow says : — 

"At the Feast of Christmas, in the king's court, wherever he 
chanced to reside, there was appointed a Lord of Misrule, or 
master of merry disports ; the same merry-fellow made his appear- 
ance at the house of every nobleman and person of distinction ; 
and among the rest the Lord Mayor of Loudon, and the sheriffs, 
had severally of them their Lord of Misrule ; ever contending, 
without quarrel or offense, who should make the rarest pastimes 
to delight the beholders ; this pageant potentate began his rule 
at All-hallow Eve, and continued the same till the morrow after 
the Feast of the Purification, in which space there were fine and 
subtle disguisings, masks, and mummeries." 

A good idea of the merry-makings of our ances- 
tors, and of the nature of the duties of the Lord of 
Misrule, or master of ceremonies, may be formed from 
a consideration of the will of the Right Worshipful 
Richard Evelyn, Esq re , of the sixteenth century, father 
of the author of " The Diary," and Deputy-Lieutenant 
of the counties of Surrey and Sussex, thus appointing 
and defining the functions of a Christmas Lord of 
Misrule, over his estate at Wotton : — 

" Imprimis. — I give free leave to Owen Flood, my trumpeter, 
gentleman, to be Lord of Misrule of all good orders during the 
twelve days. And also I give free leave to the said Owen Flood, 
to command all and every person or persons whatsoever, as well 
servants as others, to be at his command whensoever he shall 
sound his trumpet or music, and to do him service, as though I 

were present myself, at their perils I give full power and 

authority to his lordship to break up all locks, bolts, bars, doors, 
and latches, and to fling up all doors out of hinges, to come at 
those who presume to disobey his lordship's commands. God save 
the king ! " 



84 CHRISTMAS GAMBOLS. 

" Sir Richard's son did not depart from the economy 
and hospitality of the old house, but ' more veteruml 
kept a Christmas in which they had not fewer than 
three hundred bumpkins every holiday." 

Again : Heath, in his " Flagellum," tells us that it 
was the custom of Sir Oliver Cromwell [uncle of the 
Protector], " in the festival of Christmas, to entertain 
in his house a Master of Misrule or the Revels, to 
make mirth for the guests, and to direct the dances 
and the music, and generally all manner of sport and 
gambols." According to the same authority, " This 
fellow, Mr. (Oliver) Cromwell, have besmeared his own 
clothes with filth, accosts in the midst of a frisking 
dance, and so grimed him and others upon every turn, 
that such a smell was raised, that the spectators could 
hardly endure the room. Whereupon the said Master 
of Misrule, perceiving the matter, caused him to be 
laid hold on, and by his command to be thrown into 
a pond adjoining to the house and there to be soused 
over head and ears, and rinsed of the filth and pollu- 
tion sticking to him, which was accordingly executed. 
Sir Oliver suffering his nephew to undergo the punish- 
ment of his unmannerly folly." 

In pre-Reformation times, this " Master of Merry 
Disports " held his revels in or about the Church. 
Then, the nave of the Church was used for a great 
variety of purposes. Not only were Courts of Justice 
held in them, but Ales, Faires and Markets period- 
ically took place beneath the vaulted roof of many 
a stately minster. 



CHRISTMAS GAMBOLS. 85 

Even the clergy in those days might be seen min- 
gling among the busy throng of buyers and sellers, 
and observing, with at least apparent approval, the 
gambols of the Morrice dancers, and the stage of the 
Miracle players ; whilst the laity of the day, as they 
went to Church, could easily combine devotion, busi- 
ness, and amusement. 

Strype says, " in many churches, cathedral as well 
as other, and especially in London, many frays, quar- 
rels, riots, bloodsheddings were committed. They used 
also commonly to bring horses and mules into and 
through churches, and shooting off hand guns, making 
the same which were properly appointed to God's ser- 
vice and common prayer like a stable or common inn, 
or rather a den and sink of all unchristiness." 

Henry VIII. endeavored to reform these abuses, de- 
claring in a proclamation that henceforth no Christian 
person should abuse the same (i. e., churches), either 
by eating, drinking, buying, selling, playing, dancing, 
or with other profane or worldly matters. For all 
soberness, quietness, and godliness ought there to be 
used. 

Cranmer also endeavored, but in vain, to suppress 
this irreverent use of churches. Indeed, the abuse 
complained of was not totally abolished until the civil 
wars of the seventeenth century, when the troopers of 
Cromwell overthrew the authority of the Lord of Mis- 
rule, or rather in buff coat and bandolier set themselves 
up in his stead. 



86 CHRISTMAS GAMBOLS. 

In rural England, the doings of these Lords of Mis- 
rule have been thus amusingly described by Stubbs, 
who must have been an eye-witness : — 

" First of all, the wilde heads of the parish flocking togither, chuse 
them a graund captaine of mischiefe, whom they innoble with the 
title of Lord of Misrule ; and him they crowne with great solemnity; 
and adopt for their king. This king annoynted chooseth forth 
twentie, fourty, threescore, or an hundred, lustie guttes, like to him- 
self, to waite upon his lordly majesty, and to guarde his noble 
person. Then every one of these men he investeth with his liveries 
of greene, yellow, or some other light wanton colour, and as though 
they were not gaudy ynaugh, they bedecke themselves with scarries, 
ribbons and laces, hanged all over with gold ringes, pretious stones, 
and other jewels. This done, they tie about either legge twentie, or 
fourtie belles, with rich handkerchiefes in their handes, and some- 
times laide across over their shoulders and neckes, borrowed, for 
the most part, of their pretie Mopsies and loving Bessies. Thus all 
thinges set in order, then have they their ^0^7-horses, their drag- 
ons, and other antiques, together with their baudie pipers, and 
thundring drummers to strike up the devils daunce withal. Then 
march this heathen company towards the church, their pypers 
pyping, their drummers thundring, their stumpes dauncing, their 
belles jyngling, their handkerchiefes fluttering aboute their heades 
like madde men, their /fo<^_>'-horses and other monsters skirmish- 
ing amongst the throng : and in this state they go to the church 
though the minister be at prayer or preaching, dauncing and 
singing like devils incarnate, with such a confused noise that 
no man can heare his owne voyce. Then the foolish people 
they looke, they stare, they laugh, they fleere, and mount upon 
the formes and pewes, to see these goodly pageants solemnized. 
Then after this, aboute the church they go againe and againe, 
and so fourthe into the churche-yard, where they have commonly 
their summer halls, their bowers, arbours, and banqueting houses 



'//,. 



7 '^— ^ '■ fA.V, , £- >-- 






- .K'C^MA^Mk". 







CHRISTMAS GAMBOLS. 87 

set up, wherein they feaste, banquette, and daunce all that day, 
and peradventure all that night too ; and thus these terrestrial 
furies spend the Sabbath-day. Then, for the further innobling 
of this honourable lordane — lord I should say — they have cer- 
taine papers wherein is painted some babelerie or other of imagerie 
worke, and these they call my Lord of Misrules badges or cogni- 
zances. These they give to every one that will give them money to 
mantaine them in this their heathenish devilrie ; and who will not 
show himself buxome to them and give them money, they shall be 
mocked and flouted shamefully ; yea, and many times carried upon 
a cowlstaffe, and dived over heade and eares in water, or otherwise 
most horribly abused. And so besotted are some, that they not 
only give them money, but weare their badges or cognizances in 
their hattes or cappes openly. Another sorte of fantasticall fooles 
bring to these hell-hounds, the Lord of Misrule and his com- 
plices, some bread, some good ale, some new cheese, some old 
cheese, some custardes, some cracknels, some cakes, some flauns, 
some tartes, some creame, some meate, some one thing and some 
another." 

It would seem from the above, although Strutt- 
appears to have inferred in his " Sports and Pastimes " 
that Stubbs was speaking of the Christmas holidays, 
that the Lord of Misrule was sometimes also presi- 
dent over the summer sports; and that his authority 
in some cases must have occasionally extended over 
the whole period, from All-hallows till Whitsuntide. 
Stubbs speaks of this revel being on the Sabbath-day, 
and also of their erecting summer-halls, etc., in the 
church-yard, from which we may infer that the Sab- 
bath-day mentioned, was a Whitsunday, because, the 
"belles that were tied about either legge," indicate 
the morris-dance, a dance peculiar to Whitsuntide. 



88 CHRISTMAS GAMBOLS. 

In addition to the Christmas Mummeries noticed in 
the preceding chapters, a brief account should be given 
of some of the other games and amusements appro- 
priate to this season. 

Amongst the list of Christmas sports, we find "jug- 
glers and jack-puddings, scrambling for nuts and apples, 
dancing the hobby-horse, hunting owls and squirrels, 
the fool-plough, hot-cockles, a stick moving on a pivot 
with an apple at one end and a candle at the other, so 
that he who missed his bite burned his nose, blind- 
man's buff, forfeits, interludes, and mock plays. 

Brand, in his " Popular Antiquities," speaking of 
these games, says, " I find in a tract entitled ' Round 
About our Coal-fire,' " or " Christmas Entertainments," 
published in the early part of the last century, the 
following : — 

"Then comes mumming or masquerading, when the squire's 
wardrobe is ransacked for dresses of all kinds. Corks are burnt 
to black the faces of the fair, or make deputy mustachios, and 
every one of the family, except the squire himself, must be 
transformed." 

This account further says : — 

" The time of the year being cold and frosty, the diversions are 
within doors, either in exercise, or by the fireside. Dancing is 
one of the chief exercises ; or else there is a match at Blindman's 
Buff or Puss in the Corner. The next game is Questions and 
Commands, when the commander may oblige his subjects to an- 
swer any lawful question, and make the same obey him instantly, 
under the penalty of being smutted, or paying such forfeit as may 



CHRISTMAS GAMBOLS. 89 

be laid on the aggressor. Most of the other diversions are cards 
and dice." 

Although there appears to have been a considerable 
falling off in modern times in the number and variety 
of these Christmas games and amusements, still we 
gather from the above that the sports on a Christmas 
Eve, a hundred and fifty years ago, were not very 
much unlike those at present in vogue. The names 
of almost all the pastimes above mentioned must be 
familiar to every reader, who has probably participated 
in some of them. One of these favorite Christmas 
sports, once generally played on Christmas Eve, has 
been handed down to us from time immemorial, under 
the name of Snap-Dragon. In England this amuse- 
ment is still very popular, but as it is not so well known 
elsewhere, we subjoin from the " Book of Days," a 
description of the game : — 

" A quantity of raisins is deposited in a large bowl or dish (the 
broader and shallower this is, the better), and brandy or some other 
spirit is poured over the fruit and ignited. The by-standers now 
endeavor, by turns, to grasp a raisin, by plunging their hands 
through the flames ; and as this is somewhat of an arduous feat, 
requiring both courage and rapidity of action, a considerable 
amount of laughter and merriment is evoked at the expense of 
the unsuccessful competitors. As an appropriate accompaniment 
we introduce here — 

"THE SONG OF SNAP-DRAGON. 

" ' Here he comes with flaming bowl, 
Don't he mean to take his toll, 

Snip ! Snap ! Dragon ! 



90 CHRISTMAS GAMBOLS. 

" ' Take care you don't take too much, 
Be not greedy in your clutch, 

Snip ! Snap ! Dragon ! 

" ' With his blue and lapping tongue 
Many of you will be stung, 

Snip ! Snap ! Dragon ! 

" ' For he snaps at all that comes 
Snatching at his feast of plums, 

Snip ! Snap ! Dragon ! 

" ' But old Christmas makes him come, 
Though he looks so fee ! fa ! fum ! 
Snip ! Snap ! Dragon ! 

" ' Don't'ee fear him — be but bold — 
Out he goes, his flames are cold, 
Snip ! Snap ! Dragon \ 

"While the sport of Snap-dragon is going on, it is usual to 
extinguish all the lights in the room, so that the lurid glare 
from the flaming spirits may exercise to the full its weird-like 
effect." 

Note. — " Burton, in his ' Anatomy of Melancholy ' mentions as the winter 
amusements of his day — ' Cardes, tables, and dice, shovelboard, chesse-play, the 
philosopher's game, small trunkes, shuttlecocke, billiards, musicke, masks, sing- 
ing, dancing, ule-games, frolicks, jests, riddles, catches, purposes, questions and 
commands, merry tales of errant knights, queenes, lovers, lords, ladies, giants, 
dwarfes, theeves, cheaters, witches, fayries, goblins, friers, etc' " 



CHAPTER IX. 



THE CHRISTMAS PRINCE. 




E turn 
now 
from 
coun- 
try sports and pastimes 
to the consideration of 
the more splendid and 
elaborate doings of the 
town — for it is in the 
Universities and Inns 
of Court, rather than in 
the rural districts of 
England, that we find 
the Lord of Misrule as- 
suming a state and dig- 
nity which astonishes 
people living in this 
nineteenth century of 
ours. 



92 THE CHRISTMAS PRINCE. 

Amongst the more powerful Nobles, this Lord, of 
Misrule, — " Barne Bishop " or " Abbot of Unreason," 
was sometimes styled " Master of the Revels," in im- 
itation of the royal establishments, where there was for- 
merly a permanent and distinguished officer of that 
name. But in the Colleges of the Universities and in 
the Inns of Court, this " Master of Merry Disports," 
who was elected from among themselves for his wit 
and ingenuity, was commonly dignified with a title 
more appropriate to the great authority with which he 
was invested; namely, that of "Christmas Prince," or 
sometimes " King of Christmas." 

Various old authors have left us interesting accounts 
of the doings of these Christmas potentates. In 1561, 
a Christmas Prince, having with him a train of one 
hundred horsemen, richly appareled, rode through 
London to the Inner Temple, where there was great 
reveling throughout the Christmas. Lord Robert 
Dudley, afterwards Earl of Leicester, being the con- 
stable and marshal, under the name of Palaphilos, and 
Christopher Hatton, afterwards Chancellor, master of 
the game. A sort of Parliament had been previously 
held on St. Thomas's Eve, to decide whether the so- 
ciety should keep Christmas, and if so the oldest 
bencher should deliver a speech on the occasion, and 
the oldest butler publish the officers' names, and then 
— "in token of joy and good liking, the bench and 
company pass beneath the hearth, and sing a carol, 
and so to boyer " (collation). 



THE CHRISTMAS PRINCE. 93 

Jeaffreson, in his book about these Lawyers, has 
given a vivid description of this scene, derived from 
Gerard Leigh and Dugdale. 

Palaphilos, the Christmas Prince, was dressed in a 
" complete suit of elaborately wrought and richly gilt 
armor; he bore above his helmet a cloud of curiously 
dyed feathers and held a gilt pole-axe in his hand. By 
his side walked the Lieutenant of the Tower (Mr. 
Parker) clad in white armor, and like Palaphilos, fur- 
nished with feathers and a pole-axe." On entering the 
hall, the Prince and his Lieutenant were preceded by 
sixteen trumpeters, four drummers, and a company of 
fifers, followed by four halberdiers in white armor. The 
procession marched three times round the fire that 
blazed in the centre of the hall. After Prince Palaph- 
ilos had taken his seat at the invitation of the mock 
Lord Chancellor, " Kit Hatton (as Master of the Game) 
entered the hall, dressed in a complete suit of green 
velvet, and holding a green bow in his left hand. His 
quiver was supplied with green arrows, and round his 
neck was slung a hunting horn. By Kit's side arrayed 
in exactly the same style, walked the Ranger of the 
Forests (Mr. Martyn); and having forced their way 
into the crowded chamber, the two young men blew 
three blasts of venery upon their horns, and then paced 
three times round the fire. After thus parading the 
hall, they paused before the Lord Chancellor, to whom 
the Master of Game made three curtsies, and then, on 
his knees, proclaimed the desire of his heart to serve 



94 THE CHRISTMAS PRINCE. 

the mighty Prince Palaphilos. Having risen from his 
kneeling posture, Kit Hatton blew his horn, and at the 
signal his huntsman entered the room, bringing with 
him a fox, a cat, and ten couples of hounds. Forthwith 
the fox was released from the pole to which it was 
bound ; and when the luckless creature had crept into 
a corner under one of the tables, the ten couples of 
hounds were sent in pursuit .... Over tables and 
under tables, up the hall and down the hall, those score 
hounds went at full cry after a miserable fox, which 
they eventually ran into and killed in the cinder-pit, or 
as Dugdale expresses it, ' beneath the fire.' That work 
achieved, the cat was turned off and the hounds sent 
after her," etc. 

This singular hunt seems at one time to have been 
general in great houses, and to have had a sort of sym- 
bolic signification. What that was before the Reforma- 
tion does not appear, but " In ane compendious Boke 
of godly and spiritual Songs, Edinburgh, 162 1, printed 
from an old copy," are the following lines, seemingly 
referring to some such pageant : — 

" The hunter is Christ that hunts in haist, 
The hunds are Peter and Pawle, 
The Paip is the fox, Rome is the rox, 
That rubbis us on the gall." 

Scarcely less out of place in the dining room than 
Kit Hatton's hounds, was the mule, fairly mounted, on 
which the Prince Palaphilos made his appearance at 



THE CHRISTMAS PRINCE. 95 

the High Table after Supper, when he notified to his 
subjects in what manner they were to disport them- 
selves till bed-time. 

There was also, it appears, a very splendid Christ- 
mas at the Middle Temple in 1635, when Mr. Francis 
Vivian of Cornwall was the Christmas Prince, and ex- 
pended ^2,000 out of his own pocket, beyond the 
allowance of the society, in order to support his state 
with sufficient dignity. 

" The Middle Temple House," writes the Rev. G. 
Garrard to the Earl of Strafford, January 8, 1635 : — 

" Have set up a prince, who carries himself in great state 

He hath all his great officers attending him, lord keeper, lord treas- 
urer, eight white staves at the least, captain of his pensioners, cap- 
tain of his guard, two chaplains, who on Sunday last preached 
before him, and in the pulpit made three low legs to his excellency 
before they began, which is much laughed at. My Lord Chamber- 
lain lent him two fair cloths of state, one hung up in the hall, under 
which he dines, the other in his privy chamber ; he is served on the 
knee, and all that come to see him kiss his hand on their knee. 
My Lord of Salisbury hath sent him pole-axes for his pensioners. 
He sent to my Lord of Holland, his justice in Eyre, for venison, 
which he willingly sends him, to the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs of 
London for wine, all obey. Twelfth-Day was a great day, going 
to the chapel many petitions were delivered him, which he gave to 
his masters of the requests. He hath a favorite, whom with some 
others, gentlemen of great quality, he knighted as he returned from 
church, and dined in great state." 

In the early part of the Eighteenth Century these 
revels ceased, having gradually fallen off; and the dig- 
nity of Master of the Revels, instead of being eagerly 



96 THE CHRISTMAS PRINCE. 

sought for, as in former times, required a premium to 
induce any member to take it upon him. 

The expense of maintaining the mock court of the 
Christmas Prince was indeed very great, a short reign 
of forty days proving often ruinous to ambitious gen- 
tlemen resident in the Inns of Court. 

In the Universities, where the expenses were on a 
much more economical scale than those in London, the 
dignity of the office could not be properly maintained 
without contributions levied on the willing subjects of 
the Mock Prince. At the memorable Christmas ob- 
served at St. John's College, 1 Oxford, in 1607, this 
method of replenishing the royal exchequer was 
resorted to. The supplies thus obtained were ex- 
pended in revels and dramatic entertainments similar 
to those performed by the Lawyers at the Inns of 
Court. 

It might be well to give here by way of caution an ex- 
tract from the account of the Oxford Christmas Prince, 
lest any one in these antiquity-loving days should be 
disposed to revive such sports and pastimes as those 
above referred to. 

Says the Chronicler : 

" Let others herafter take heed how they attempte the like, 
vnlesse they find better meanes at home, and better mindes abroad." 
. . . . " Wee intended in these exercises the practise and audacity 
of our youth, the creditt and good name of our Colledge, the love 
and favor of the vniuersity; but instead of all these (so easie a 

1 See Appendix. 



THE CHRISTMAS PRINCE. 97 

thing it is to be deceived in a good meaning) wee met with peevish- 
nesse at home, peruersnes abroad, contradictiones everywhere ; some 
neuer thought themselves entreated enough to their owne good and 
creditt ; others thought themselves able to doe nothing if they could 
not thwarte and hinder something ; most stood by and gave aime, 
willing to see much and doe nothing, nay pchaunce they were ready 
to procure most trouble, which would bee sure to yeild least helpe. 
And yet wee may not so much grudge at faults at home as wee may 
justly complaine of hard measure abroad; for insteed of the love and 
favor of the vniuersitie, wee found o r selves (wee will say justly) taxed 
for any the least errour, [though ingenious spirits would have 
pdoned many things, where all things were entended for their owne 
pleasure] but most vnjustly censured and envied for that w ch was 
done [wee dare say] indifferently well : so that, in a word wee paid 
deere for trouble, and in a manner hired and sent for men to 
doe vs wrong." 

It is difficult for us now to realize the extent to which 
these Christmas Gambols were carried, down even to 
the end of the seventeenth century. White! ocke, the 
friend of Cromwell and once Speaker of the House of 
Commons, President of the Council of State, and also 
Keeper of the Great Seal, and other eminent lawyers, 
statesmen, and philosophers of his time, prided them- 
selves not a little on their taste and skill, as well as on 
the authority exercised by them. 

Whitelocke has left on record a curious account of 
his own princely doings at the Christmas revels held at 
the Temple in 1629. In his twenty-fourth year, he was 
unanimously chosen Master of the Revels by the 
young gentlemen of the Middle Temple. " The com- 
pany was about twenty in number, and they met nearly 

7 



98 THE CHRISTMAS PRINCE. 

every evening at St. Dunstan's tavern, in a large new 
room, called the * Oracle of Apollo ' ; each member 
brought friends with him, when he thought fit, provided 
there was no secret sitting specially appointed for dis- 
cussing 'ways and means.' In this hall they held, after 
their sage consultations, both solemn dinners and sober 
suppers, for not one among them was ever seen to be 
drunk, and not one of them was ever guilty of debauch- 
ery during that whole winter's season." The meetings 
were, in short, a kind of miniature parliament of which 
Whitelocke was the speaker. Besides voting supplies, 
the weighty business to be transacted there, was "to 
practise their dancing, to exercise both their wits and 
bodies ; not to cloud their reason or parts with excess 
or debauchery, but to improve their judgment and by 
good discourse and conversation ; sometimes by putting 
of cases ; and they did appear together much more like 
to grave ancients in a council chamber than to young 
revellers in a house of drinking." The dancing itself 
was a very grave ceremony, as the reader will perceive ; 
for at All-hallows day (November 1), which the Tem- 
plars considered the beginning of Christmas, the Mas- 
ter, as soon as the evening was come, entered the hall, 
followed by sixteen revellers. They were proper, hand- 
some young gentlemen, habited in rich suits, shoes and 
stockings, hats and great feathers. The Master led 
them in his bar-gown, with a white staff in his hand, the 
music playing before them. They began with the old 
masques ; after that they danced the Brawl, and then 



THE CHRISTMAS PRINCE. 99 

the Master took his seat whilst the revellers flaunted 
through galliards, corantos, French and country dances, 
till it grew very late. As might be expected, the repu- 
tation of this dancing soon brought a store of other 
gentlemen and ladies, some of whom were of great 
quality ; and when the ball was over, the festive party 
adjourned to Sir Sidney Montague's chamber, lent for 
the purpose to our young president. At length, the 
court ladies and grandees were allured, — to the con- 
tentment of his (Whitelocke's) vanity it may have been, 
but entailing on him serious expense, — and then there 
was great striving for places to see them on the part of 

the London citizens To crown the ambition 

and vanity of all, a great German lord had a desire to 
witness the revels, then making such a sensation at 
court, and the Templars entertained him at great cost 
to themselves, receiving in exchange that which cost 
the great noble very little, — his avowal that * Dere 
was no such nople gollege in Ghristendom as deirs.' 

Perhaps of all the splendid festivities recorded for 
the admiration of posterity, that which concluded the 
Christmas Holiday season of 16331s the most remark- 
able, indeed it was the last great masque presented to 
Charles I. A very full and graphic account of it is 
given by Whitelocke in his " Memoirs." 

The following summary of the proceeding is taken 
from Jeaffreson's " Book about Lawyers : " — 

" The masque was entitled the ' Triumph of Peace,' and was writ- 
ten by Shirley ; it was produced with a pomp and lavish expenditure 



IOO THE CHRISTMAS PRINCE. 

that were without precedent. The organization and guidance of 
the undertaking were entrusted to a committee of eight barresters, 

two from each of the four Inns of Court The committee 

of management had their quarters at Ely House, Holborn, and from 
that historic palace the masquers started for Whitehall on the eve 
of Candlemas Day, 1633-1634. 

" It was a superb procession. First, marched twenty tall foot- 
men blazing in liveries of scarlet cloth trimmed with lace, each of 
them holding a baton in his right hand, and in his left a flaring 
torch that covered his face with light, and made the steel and silver 
of his sword-scabbard shine brilliantly. A company of the mar- 
shal's men marched next with firm and even steps, clearing the way 
for their master. A burst of deafening applause came from the 
multitude as the marshal rode through the gateway of Ely House, 
and caracoled over the Holborn way on the finest charger that the 
king's stables could furnish. A perfect horseman and the hand- 
somest man then in town, Mr. Darrel of Lincoln's Inn, had been 
elected to the office of marshal in deference to his wealth, his noble 
aspect, his fine nature, and his perfect mastery of all manly sports. 
On either side of Mr.^Darrel's horse marched a lacquey bearing a 
flambeau, and the marshal's page was in attendance with his mas- 
ter's cloak. An interval of some twenty paces, and then came the 
marshal's body guard, composed of one hundred mounted gentle- 
men of the Inns of Court — twenty-five from each house ; showing 
in their faces the signs of gentle birth and honorable nurture ; and 
with strong hands reining mettlesome chargers that had been fur- 
nished for their use by the greatest nobles of the land. This flood 
of flashing chivalry was succeeded by an anti-masque of beggars and 
cripples, mounted on the lamest, and most unsightly of rat-tailed 
screws and spavined ponies, and wearing dresses that threw derision 
on legal vestments and decorations. Another anti-masque satirized 
the wild projects of crazy speculators and inventors ; and as it 
moved along the spectators laughed aloud at the l fish-call,' or look- 
ing-glass for fishes in the sea, very useful for fishermen to call all 



THE CHRISTMAS PRINCE. IOI 

kinds of fish to their nets.' The newly invented wind-mate for 
raising a breeze over becalmed seas, the ' movable hydraulic ' which 
should give sleep to patients suffering under fever. 

" Chariots and horsemen, torch-bearers and lacqueys, followed in 
order. ' Then came the first chariot of the grand masquers, which 
was not so large as those that went before, but most curiously 
framed, carved, and painted with exquisite art, and purposely for 
this service and occasion. The form of it was after that of the 
Roman triumphant chariots. The seats in it were made of oval 
form in the back end of the chariot, so that there was no prece- 
dence in them and the face of all that sat in it might be seen to- 
gether. The colors of the first chariot were silver and crimson, 
given by the lot to Gray's Inn ; the chariot was drawn with four 
horses all abreast, and they were covered to their heels all over with 
cloth of tissue, of the colors of crimson and silver, huge plumes of 
white and red feathers on their heads ; the coachman's cap and 
feather, his long coat, and his very whip and cushion of the same 
stuff and color. In this chariot sat the four grand masquers of 
Gray's Inn, their habits, doublets, trunk-hose, and caps of most 
rich cloth of tissue, and wrought as thick with silver spangles as 
they could be placed : large white stockings up to their trunk-hose, 
and rich sprigs in their caps, themselves proper and beautiful young 
gentlemen. On each side of the chariot were four footmen in liv- 
eries of the color of the chariot, carrying huge flamboys in their 
hands, which with the torches, gave such a lustre to the paintings, 
spangles, and habits that hardly anything could be invented to ap- 
pear more glorious.' Six musicians followed the state chariots of 
Gray's Inn, playing as they went ; and then came the triumphal 
cars of the Middle Templars, the Inner Templars, and the Lin- 
coln's Inn men, each car being drawn by four horses and attended 
by torch-bearers, flambeau-bearers, and musicians. In shape these 
four cars were alike, but they differed in the color of their fittings. 
Whilst Gray's Inn used scarlet and silver, the Middle Templars 
chose blue and silver decorations, and each of the other two houses 



102 THE CHRISTMAS PRINCE. 

adopted a distinctive color for the housings of their horses and the 

liveries of their servants Through the illuminated streets 

this pageant marched to the sound of trumpets and drums, cymbals 
and fifes, amidst the deafening acclamations of the delighted town ; 
and when the lawyers reached White-hall, the king and queen were 
so delighted with the spectacle, that the procession was ordered to 
make the circuit of the tilt-yard for the gratification of their Majes- 
ties, who would fain see the sight once again from a window of the 
palace (the very window through which the king was conducted 
fifteen years after to the stage of the scaffold)." 

" Is there need to speak of the manner in which the masque was 
acted, of the music and dances, of the properties and scenes, of the 
stately banquet after the play, and the grand ball which began at a 
still later hour, of the king's urbanity and the graciousness of Hen- 
rietta, who ' did the honor to some of the masquers to dance with 
them herself, and to judge them as good dancers as she ever 



Besides the charge for the music, the cost of the 
dresses of the horsemen, and the liveries of their pages 
and lacqueys, the expense of the masque was found to 
exceed ^20,000, which had to be borne by the societies 
of the Inns of Court, and by some of the wealthier 
members individually. 

Savs Whitelocke, at the conclusion of his account 
of this grand masque : " Thus these dreams past, and 
these pomps vanished." 

But the sad and sober days of the Commonwealth 
came when Christmas was solemnly banished the land 
by Act of Parliament. Needham, lamenting this. sad 
change, says : — 



THE CHRISTMAS PRINCE. 103 

" Gone are those golden days of yore, 
When Christmas was a High Day : 
Whose sports we now shall see no more — 
'T is turned into Good Friday." 

The parliamentary order referred to enjoined that 
" the twenty-fifth of December should be strictly ob- 
served as a fast, and that all men should pass it in 
humbly bemoaning the great national sin which they 
and their fathers had so often committed on that day 
by romping under the mistletoe, eating boar's head, 
and drinking ale flavored with roasted apples." No 
public act of that time, says Lord Macaulay, 1 seems to 
have irritated the people more. " On the next anniver- 
sary of the festival formidable riots broke out in many 
places. The constables were resisted, the magistrates 
insulted, the houses of noted zealots attacked, and the 
proscribed service of the day openly read in the 
churches." 

1 By the way, Lord Macaulay is particularly eloquent in his defense of the fes- 
tival condemned by the puritanical parliament of 1644 : " Christmas had been 
from time immemorial, the season of joy and domestic affection, the season when 
families assembled, when children came home from school, when quarrels were 
made up, when carols were heard in every street, when every house was decorated 
with evergreens, and every table was loaded with good cheer. At that season all 
hearts, not utterly destitute of kindness were enlarged and softened. At that sea- 
son the poor were admitted to partake largely of the overflowings of the wealth 
of the rich, whose bounty was peculiarly acceptable on account of the shortness 
of the days and the severity of the weather. At that season the interval between 
landlord and tenant, master and servant, was less marked than through the rest 
of the year. Where there is much enjoyment, there will be some excess ; yet, on 
the whole, the spirit in which the holiday was kept was not unworthy of a Chris- 
tian festival." « 



104 THE CHRISTMAS PRINCE. 

At the Restoration of Charles II., there was a par- 
tial revival of the Christmas Gambols, together with 
the May Games or Sports and Pastimes that had been 
forbidden by the Long Parliament. 

In the eighteenth century the Inns of Court revels, 
which had for so many generations been conspicuous 
amongst the gayeties of the town, became less and less 
magnificent ; dying out altogether in the time of the 
unappreciative George the Second. 

Note. — "In 1697-8 Peter the Great was a guest at the Christmas revels of 
the Templars. On that occasion the Czar enjoyed a favorable opportunity for 
gratifying his love of strong drink, and for witnessing the ease with which our 
ancestors drank wine by the magnum and punch by the gallon, when they were 
bent upon enjoyment." — Book about Lawyers. 



CHAPTER X. 



THE CHRISTMAS BANQUETS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 



HE 



custom of serving 




the boar's head with 
minstrelsy at the 
Christmas dinner, 
with more or less of 
the ceremonies still 
used at Queen's 
College, Oxford, 
was very general 
in England previous 
to the civil wars of the 
seventeenth century, 
not only in the halls 
of the Universities, but 
also in the houses of 
the nobility and gen- 
try. According to Aubrey, — "The first dish that was 



106 THE CHRISTMAS BANQUETS 

served up in the old baronial halls, was the boar's 
head, which was brought in with great state, and with 
minstrelsy ; and between the flourishes of the heralds' 
trumpets, carols were chanted forth." 

Perhaps the most splendid example of Christmas 
banqueting of this kind of which we have read, is 
that recently illustrated by Gilbert, which took place 
in the reign of Henry VII., in the great hall of West- 
minster. To this feast the Mayor and Aldermen of 
London were invited, and all the sports of the time 
were exhibited before them in the great hall, which 
was hung with tapestry ; " which sports being ended in 
the morning, the King, Queen, and Court sat down at 
a table of stone, to one hundred and twenty dishes, 
placed by as many knights and esquires ; while the 
Mayor was served with twenty-four dishes and abun- 
dance of wine. And finally, the King and Queen 
being conveyed with great lights into the palace, the 
Mayor with his company, in barges, returned to Lon- 
don by break of next day." 

It is this royal Christmas which Mr. Gilbert has 
represented with such truthfulness. The artist has 
selected the upper end of the hall, showing the great 
stone table, with the King and Queen seated beneath 
a canopy of state, emblazoned with the royal arms ; 
the dais wall is hung with tapestry, and wreathed with 
Christmas evergreens, and the banners above are sur- 
mounted with laurel crowns. The servitors are bring- 
ing in the royal dishes, conspicuous amongst which 



OF THE OLDEN TIME. 107 

is the peacock in all its glory of gaudy plumage, and 
the boar's head dressed with holly, bay, and rosemary. 
The following celebrated account of a Christmas din- 
ner, at the time of the famous " Christmas Prince " who 
presided over the festivities at St. John's, Oxford, in 
1607, is taken from the " Miscellanea Antiqua Angli- 
cana" : — 

" At diner beinge sett downe in y e Hall at y e high table in y e 
Vice President's place [for y e President himself was then allso 
p'sent] hee was serued w th 20 dishes to a messe, all w* h were 
brought in by Gentlemen of y e Howse attired in his Guard's coats, 
vshered in by y e L rd Comptroller and other Officers of y e Hall. 

" The first messe was a Boar's head, w ch was carried by the tallest 
and lustiest of all y e Guard, before whom (as attendants) wente first, 
one attired in a horseman's coate, w th a Boares-speare in his hande ; 
next to him another Huntsman in greene w th a bloody faulcion 
drawne ; next to him 2 Pages in tafatye sarcenet, each of y em w th a 
messe of mustard ; next to whome came hee y* carried y e Boar's 
head crost w th a greene silke Scarfe, by w ch hunge y e empty Scab- 
bard of the faulcion w ch was carried before him. As y eI entered y e 
Hall, He sange this Christmas Caroll y e three last verses [lines] 
of euerie Staffe being repeated after him by the whole com- 
panye : " — 

" The Boare is dead, 
Loe, heare is his head, 

What man could haue done more 
Then his head of to strike 
Meleager like, 
And bringe it as I doe before ? 

" He liuinge spoyled 
Where good men toyled, 
Which made kinde Ceres sorrye ; 



108 THE CHRISTMAS BANQUETS 

But now dead and drawne, 
Is very good brawne, 

And wee haue brought it for y u . 

" Then sett downe y e Swineyard 
The foe to y e Vineyard 

Lett Bacchus crowne his fall, 
Lett this Boares-head and mustard 
Stand for Pigg, Goose and Custard, 

And so y u are wellcome all." 

The ceremony still observed in Queen's College, Ox- 
ford, differs but little from the above. The custom has 
probably been observed since the foundation of the 
college in 1340. The Boar's Head, 1 highly decorated 
with bay, holly, rosemary, etc., in a large pewter dish, is 
slowly borne into the hall by two strong servants of the 
college, who hold it up as high as they can, that it may 
be seen by the visitors ranged on either side of the hall. 
The gentleman who sings the ancient carol, or k ' Boar's 
Head Song " (generally one of the members of the col- 
lege, though sometimes one of the choir of Magdalen 
College), immediately precedes the Boar's Head, and as 
he commences the song with, " The Boar's Head in 

1 Brawn, decorated with bay and rosemary, has been substituted for the Boar's 
head. The following traditional receipt we give as we had it from an English 
lady. "'Brazvn. — Take a pig's head and soak in salt and water all night, scrape 
and well clean the head, removing the brains and eyes. Boil until tender enough 
to take the bones out easily. When quite tender pick the meat from the bones 
and chop fine, seasoning to your taste, with red and black pepper, cloves, mace, 
nutmeg, and salt ; mix well together and put in a press. Let it remain until 
cold." 



OF THE OLDEN TIME. 109 

hand bear I," touches the dish with his right hand. 
Two young choristers from Magdalen College follow, 
to sing conjointly with many of the junior members of 
Queen's College, the chorus, " Caput apri defero," etc. 1 
The dish is carried as before stated, to the high table, 
where sit the Provost, Bursar, Fellows, and others, and 
at which many visitors are congregated. 

The places where now the boar's head ceremony is 
specially observed, by bringing in the gigantic dish in 
procession, with song and chorus, on Christmas Day, 
are Queen's College, Oxford ; St. John's College, Cam- 
bridge ; and the Inner Temple, London. 

There has been also, elsewhere, and even in this 
country, successful attempts at a revival of this ancient 
ceremony. At the opening of the New Rooms of the 
Century Club of New York, on Twelfth-Night, 1858, 
there was a pageant similar in character. The cere- 
monies on the occasion were like those enacted in the 
Inns of Court, in the sixteenth and seventeenth cen- 
turies. The writer was told by those who were present 
that everything was done according to ancient custom, 
the decorations of the spacious apartments and the 
costumes were very picturesque, and the ancient cook- 
ery decidedly good. 

There was also in 1865, at Troy, N. Y., a similar 
serving up of the boar's head with minstrelsy, at a 
Christmas dinner, in the school-room of the Mary 
Warren Free Institute. The choir sang in procession 

1 For Carol, see Appendix. 



HO THE CHRISTMAS BANQUETS 

the appropriate carol ; the first bass, with his hand on 
the silver dish chanting the solo, — 

The boar's head in hand bear I, 
Bedecked with bay and rosemary, 
And I pray you, my masters, be merry, 
Quot estis in convivio. 

The schoolroom with its arched fireplace and blaz- 
ing yule-log presented quite the appearance of an an- 
tique baronial hall. 

Various accounts have been given of the origin of 
this ancient custom of bringing in the boar's head. By 
some it is said to have originated with the Romans, 
who served up the wild boar, sometimes in parts, and 
sometimes the entire animal, as the first dish at their 
feasts. 

The boar's head was also an established Yule-tide 
dish of the North in the old heathen times. The 
whole boar and boar's head, gorgeously ornamented, 
gilt, and painted, was also a favorite festival dish in 
England during the Norman era. Perhaps, as the 
wild boar was anciently accounted a public enemy, 
ferocious and destructive, a successful encounter with 
him was in those days considered an achievement 
worthy the valor of an accomplished knight, entitling 
him to the gratitude of the country. An old carol 
from Mr. Wright's MS. seems to confirm this sup- 
position : — 



OF THE OLDEN TIME. 1 1 i 

" Tidings I bring you for to tell 
What in wild forest me befell, 
When I in with a wild beast fell, 
With a boar so bryme " (fierce). 

" A boar so bryme that me pursued, 
Me for to kill so sharply moved, 
That brymly beast so cruel and rude, 

There tamed I him, 
And reft from him both life and limb. 

" Truly, to show you this is true, 
His head I with my sword did hew, 
To make this day new mirth for you, 
Now eat thereof anon. 

" Eat, and much good do it you, 
Take your bread and mustard thereto ; 
Joy with me, that this I have done, 
I pray you be glad every one, 
And all rejoice as one." 

The curious custom called the " Rhyne Toll of 
Chetwode Manor," may be also cited by way of illus- 
tration. The tradition is, that at a very early period 
of English history, a lord of Chetwode, the ancestor 
of the present proprietor, slew in single combat an 
enormous wild boar, the terror of the surrounding 
country. For this good service, he and his heirs had 
conferred on them by royal authority certain valuable 
manorial rights and privileges, which the family enjoy 
to this day. An old ballad modernized thus commem- 
orates the deed : — 



112 THE CHRISTMAS BANQUETS 

" Then he blowed a blast full North, South, East, and West — 
Wind well thy horn good hunter ! — 
And the wild boar then heard him full in his den, 
As he was a jovial hunter. 

" Then he made the best of his speed unto him — 
Wind well thy horn good hunter ! — 
Swift flew the boar, with his tusks smear'd with gore, 
To Sir Ryalas, the jovial hunter. 
" Then the wild boar, being so stout and strong — 
Wind well thy horn good hunter ! — 
Thrash'd down the trees as he ramped him along, 
To Sir Ryalas, the jovial hunter. 

Then they fought four hours in a long summer day — 

Wind well thy horn good hunter ! — 
Till the wild boar fain would have got him away 

From Sir Ryalas, the jovial hunter. 

" When Sir Ryalas he drawed his broadsword with might - 
Wind well thy horn good hunter ! — 
And he fairly cut the boar's head off quite, 
For he was a jovial hunter." 

This tradition (thus commemorated) received, about 
half a century since, a remarkable confirmation. Within 
a mile of Chetwode Manor house there existed a large 
mound, surrounded by a ditch, and bearing the name 
of the " Boar's Pond." About the year 1810, the ten- 
ant to whose farm it belonged, wishing to bring it into 
cultivation, began to fill up the ditch by leveling the 
mound, when having lowered the latter about four 
feet, he came on the skeleton of an enormous boar, 



OF THE OLDEN TIME. 113 

lying flat on its side, and at full length. The field 
containing it is still called the Boar's Head Field. 1 

There is, however, a very different account of the 
origin of the custom of serving the boar's head at 
Christmas, given by Dean Wade, in his " Walks about 
Oxford " : — 

"Tradition presents this usage as a commemoration of an act 
of valor, performed by a student of a college, who, walking in 
the neighboring forest of Shotover, and reading 'Aristotle,' was 
suddenly attacked by a wild boar. The furious beast came open- 
mouthed upon the youth, who, however, very courageously and 
with a happy presence of mind, is said to have rammed in the 
volume and cried, ' Grcecum est ' (it is Greek) ; fairly," adds the 
Dean, " choking the savage with the sage." 

Perhaps this manner of disposing of two enemies 
at once was considered by the Oxonians of that day 
an event worthy of a particular commemoration ; the 
Greek philosopher, in their estimation, being the most 
dreadful bore of the two. But whether or not the 
modern philosophy which succeeded that of Aristotle 
in this University derived its name " Baconian " from 
this combat, has not, it appears, been yet decided. 
Possibly the youth mentioned by the Dean may have 
acquired the surname of " Bacon " from this exploit, 
and so transmitted it to posterity with the " inductive " 
or " Baconian system." The crest of Lord Bacon — 
the wild boar passant — with the motto " mediocria 
firma " seems to indicate something of the kind. 

1 See Chambers' Book of Days. 



114. THE CHRISTMAS BANQUETS 

However, the valorous exploit was commemorated 
by the patron of the student in a stained glass window 
in Horspath Church, near Shotover. A taberdar, 1 an 
officer peculiar to Queen's College, is there represented 
holding on a spear the head of the boar he had slain. 

But to return to the subject of the banquet. The 
dinner would have been thought very incomplete with- 
out the appearance of another famous dish peculiar to 
the season — the Christmas pie — which like the boar's 
head was anciently served with minstrelsy. 

This dainty dish fit " to set before a king," was 
quite a bill of fare in itself, — fish, flesh, and fowl were 
to be found beneath its ample crust. We read that, 
" In the 26th Henry III., the Sheriff of Gloucester was 
ordered by that monarch to procure twenty salmon to 
be put into pies at Christmas ; and the Sheriff of Sus- 
sex, ten brawns, ten peacocks, and other items for the 

1 " Taberdars are officers peculiar (it is said) to Queen's College ; their duties 
appertained to the refectorium, or dining-hall. One of these students in office, in 
earlier centuries, was returning home through Shotover Forest, after a day spent 
in recreation, and for safety against wild things, he carried a spear. Jogging 
homeward leisurely, it pleased him to lull the distance with a page or two of the 
MS. Aristotle, which he had slung in the folds of his vestment. Thus occupied, 
and all insecure from foes, biped or quadruped, he was terrified to find that a 
savage boar was at that instant thrusting itself offensively in his path. The 
scholar suddenly halted. The boar did likewise. The scholar extended his jaws 
to raise an alarming cry, and the boar followed the example. Pursuing his advan- 
tage, — the man who could study Aristotle in those days was not likely to be 
blamed for stupidity, — as quick as speech the taberdar thrust the volume, vellum, 
brass, and all, into the animal's throat, and then finished the business with the 
spear, whilst his opponent was digesting his classics. 

" The scholar's patron commemorated the event in the windows of Horspath 
Church." — Wanderings of a Pen and Pencil. 



OF THE OLDEN TIME. 115 

same purpose." The peacock was only produced at 
solemn and chivalric banquets, such as that of Christ- 
mas, and when thus served up, with gilded beak and 
plumed crest, his head appearing at one end of the 
pie, and his tail at the other, spread out in all its glory, 
was carried in state into the hall to the sound of min- 
strelsy, by the lady most distinguished for birth and 
beauty, the other ladies following in due order. 

Some of the dishes of the olden time do not appear 
to us to be very inviting ; yet others have stood the 
test of ages, as we see in the instance of a Christmas- 
pie, the receipt to make which is preserved in the 
books of the Salters' Company, in London : — 

" For to make a moost choyce Paaste of Gamys to be eten at 
y e Feste of Chrystemasse (17th Richard II. a. d. 1394)." 

A pie so made by the Company's cook in 1836, was 
found excellent It consisted of a pheasant, hare, and 
capon ; two partridges, two pigeons, and two rabbits ; 
all boned and put into paste in the shape of a bird, 
with the livers and hearts, two mutton kidneys, force- 
meats, and egg-balls, seasoning, spice, catsup, and 
pickled mushrooms, filled up with gravy made from 
the various bones. 

The North of England in more modern times con- 
tinued to maintain a reputation for its Christmas-pies, 
composed of birds and game. In the " Newcastle 
Chronicle" of January 6, 1770, there is a description 
of a giant of this race : — 



Il6 THE CHRISTMAS BANQUETS 

" On Monday last was brought from Howick to Berwick, to be 
shipped for London, for Sir Henry Grey, Bart., a pie, the contents 
whereof are as follows, viz. : 2 bushels of flour, 20 lbs. of butter, , 
4 geese, 2 turkies, 2 rabbits, 4 wild ducks, 2 woodcocks, 6 snipes, 
and 4 partridges, 2 neats' tongues, 2 curlews, 7 blackbirds, and 6 
pigeons. It is supposed this very great curiosity was made by Mrs. 
Dorothy Patterson, housekeeper at Howick. It is near nine feet 
in circumference at bottom, weighs about 12 stone ; will take two 
men to present it to table ; it is neatly fitted with a case and four 
small wheels to facilitate its use to every guest that inclines to 
partake of its contents at table." 

The Christmas pie in these days has come to be 
known as mince pie, the term, according to the learned 
Dr. Parr, having been given to it by the Puritans in 
derision. 

Anciently this pie was baked in the form of a crache 
or manger, the crossed bands at the top being tradi- 
tionally considered to resemble the manner in which a 
child is secured in its crib. Its various savory contents 
had, it is supposed, some reference to the offerings of 
the Magi. Indeed, our mince pie has laid the whole 
world under contribution : the East and West Indies 
furnishing the spices and sugar ; Greece and Malaga 
their currants and raisins ; the North its choicest fruit, 
aifld the South pouring over the whole its costliest 
wine. 

In the seventeenth century, the eating of this pie 
became a test of orthodoxy. Bunyan. when in con- 
finement, and in distress for a comfortable meal, is said 



OF THE OLDEN TIME. 117 

to have refused to injure his morals by eating it, the 
Puritans of his day holding it to be an abomination : — 

" The high-shoe lords of Cromwell's making 
Were not for dainties - — roasting, baking ; 
The chiefest food they found most good in 
Was rusty bacon and bag-pudding; 
Plum-broth was * Popish,' and mince-pie — 
O, that was flat idolatry!" — 

Poor Robin's Almanack, 1685. 

There is a superstition in regard to these pies 
worthy of notice. It is said that in as many different 
houses as you eat mince-pie at Christmas, so many 
happy months will you have during the ensuing year. 
Now, as there are just twelve days of Christmas, an 
enterprising diner-out may thus secure twelve happy 
months for the New Year. 



CHAPTER XL 

TWELFTH-DAY, OR OLD CHRISTMAS. 




N the primitive 
Church the Feast 
of the Nativity appears 
to have been observed 
by the Eastern and 
Western Churches on 
different days. The 
Oriental Church keep- 
ing it on the 6th of Jan- 
uary, calling it the 
Epiphany, 1 and the Western Church, from the earliest 



1 According to the change of the style (made in England by act of Parliament, 
1752), " Old Christmas Day," as it is called, in contradistinction to that of the 



TWELFTH-DAY, OR OLD CHRISTMAS. 119 

time, on the 25th of December. Bingham says that 
this day was kept as our Saviour's birthday for several 
ages by the churches of Egypt, Jerusalem, Antioch, 
Cyprus, and other churches of the East. In the fourth 
century, Chrysostom, in one of his homilies to the 
people of Antioch, tells them that — " Ten years were 
not yet passed since they came to the true knowledge 
of the day of Christ's birth, which they kept before on 
Epiphany, till the Western Church gave them better 
information." From that time it appears that the 
Nativity and Epiphany were kept as distinct festi- 
vals. Both Cassian and Jerome say : — 

" The Nativity and Epiphany were kept on different days in all 
the Western Churches, and both these were indifferently called Theo- 
phania et Epiphania, et prima et secunda Nativitas, — the ' Epiph- 
any ' or ' Manifestation of God/ and his first and second Nativity ; 
that being the first, whereon he was born in the flesh, and that his 
second Nativity, or Epiphany, whereon he was baptized, and mani- 
fested by a star to the Gentiles." 

In the fourth century, however, the Easterns changed 
their festival of the Nativity, and united with the 
Westerns in observing the 25th of December. This 
variation in the early usage of the Greek and Latin 
Churches may have originated the custom of obser- 
ving twelve days as the Christmas holidays. 

The Epiphany is said to denote Christ's manifesta- 

new style, falls on the Eve of Epiphany or Twelfth-Day, and in some places, says 
Mr. Hone, " is still observed as the festival of the Nativity." 



120 TWELFTH-DAY, OR OLD CHRLSTMAS. 

tion to the world in four several respects, which at first 
were all commemorated upon this day, namely: (i.) 
By his Nativity or Incarnation. (2.) By the appear- 
ance of the Star which guided the Wise Men unto 
Christ at his birth. (3.) By the glorious appearance 
that was made at his baptism. (4.) By the manifesta- 
tion of his Divinity, when by his first miracle He 
turned the water into wine, at the marriage of Cana 
in Galilee. 

In England the twelve days of Christmas were cer- 
tainly observed as early as the time of Alfred the 
Great, and probably from a much earlier period. 
Collier, in his " Ecclesiastical History of Britain," cites 
a law of Alfred in which, " the twelve days after the 
Nativity of our Saviour are made holy days." 

The Magi, or " Wise Men of the East," commemo- 
rated at the Epiphany, are supposed to have been 
Persians. These Magi in their own country were 
philosophers or priests, and besides were sometimes 
royal counselors, physicians, astrologers, or mathema- 
ticians. In fact they were similar to the Brahmins of 
India, the Philosophers among the Greeks, and the 
Druids among the Gauls. Zoroaster, one of their 
number and King of Bactria, the great reformer of 
the sect of the Magi, has left on record a curious 
prophecy relating to the future birth of a Saviour, 
and its announcement by a Star, which seems to agree 
in a remarkable manner with that of Balaam : " There 
shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall 



TWELFTH-DAY, OR OLD CHRLSTMAS. 12 1 

rise out of Israel." Says Abul Pharajius, speaking of 
Zoroaster, — 

" He taught the Persians the manifestation of the Lord Christ, 
commanding that they should bring him gifts ; and revealed to 
them that it would happen in the latter time that a virgin would 
conceive without contact with a man, and that when her child was 
born, a star would appear and shine by day, in the midst of which 
would be seen the figure of a virgin. ' But you, my children, will see 
its rising before all the nations. When, therefore, ye shall behold 
it, go whither the star shall guide ye and adore the child, and offer 
up to him your gifts, seeing that he is the Word, which has created 
the Heavens.' " 

Blunt says : — 

"Some authors have suggested, and it seems not improbable, that 
the 'Star' which appeared to the Wise Men in the East might 
be that glorious light which shone upon the Shepherds of Bethlehem, 
when the angels came to give them the glad tidings of our Saviour's 
birth. According to an ancient commentary on St. Matthew, this 
Star, on its first appearance to the Magi, had the form of a radiant 
child bearing a sceptre or cross ; and in some early Italian frescoes, 
it is so depicted." 

The Wise Men who came to Jerusalem in the days 
of Herod, are traditionally believed to have been three 
in number, and of the rank of kings or princes. The 
Venerable Bede, in the seventh century, was the first 
writer in England who gave a description of them, 
which he is supposed to have taken from some earlier 
account. According to Bede, — 

" Melchior was old, with gray hair and long beard, and offered 
gold to our Saviour in acknowledgment of his sovereignty ; Jaspar 



122 TWELFTH-DAY, OR OLD CHRISTMAS. 

was young, without any beard, and offered frankincense in recog- 
nition of the Divinity ; and Balthasar was of a dark complexion as 
a Moor, with a large spreading beard, and offered myrrh to our 
Saviour's humanity." 

The tradition is that they were baptized by St. 
Thomas, and afterwards themselves preached the 
gospel. In the fourth century their bodies were said 
to have been discovered by the Empress Helena, and 
taken to Constantinople ; from thence to Milan ; and 
when that city was taken by the Emperor Frederick 
in 1 1 64, he gave these relics to Reinaldus, Archbishop 
of Cologne, whence they are commonly called " The 
Three Kings of Cologne." 

In England, a striking memorial of the offerings of 
the Magi is kept up by the sovereigns, who make an 
oblation of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, at the Altar 
of the Chapel Royal in the Palace of St. James, on 
this festival. 

Le Neve's manuscript, called " The Royal Book," 
containing the method of keeping festivals at court in 
the reign of Henry the Seventh, prescribes " That on 
Twelfth-day the King must go crowned in his royal 
robes, kirtle, surcoat, his furred hood about his neck, 
his mantle with a long train, and his cutlas before him ; 
his armills upon his arms, of gold set full of rich stones ; 
and no temporal man to touch it, but the King himself ; 
and the squire for the body must bring it to the King ' 
in a fair kerchief, and the King must put them on him- 
self ; and he must have his sceptre in his right hand, 



TWELFTH-DAY, OR OLD CHRISTMAS. 123 

and the ball with the cross in his left hand, and the 
crown upon his head. And he must offer that day, 
gold, myrrh, and cense ; then must the dean of the 
chapel send unto the Archbishop of Canterbury by 
clerk or priest, the King's offering that day; and then 
must the Archbishop give the next benefice that falleth 
in his gift to the same messenger." 

" A century ago," says Mr. Chambers, " the king, pre- 
ceded by heralds, pursuivants, and the Knights of the 
Garter, Thistle, and Bath, in the collars of their respec- 
tive orders, went to the Royal Chapel of St. James' and 
offered gold, myrrh, and frankincense, in imitation of 
the Eastern Magi's offering to our Saviour. Since the 
illness of George III., the procession, and even the per- 
sonal appearance of the monarch, have been discon- 
tinued. Two gentlemen from the Lord Chamberlain's 
office now appear instead, attended by a box orna- 
mented at top with a spangled star from which they 
take the gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and place them 
on an alms-dish held forth by the officiating priest." 

The story of the Three Kings of Cologne forms the 
subject of many of the early " mysteries," formerly so 
popular. There are, indeed, said to have been repre- 
sentations of the Magi in the French churches as 
early as the fifth century, and there are French mys- 
teries relating to them in the eleventh century, and 
also a Latin one, wherein Virgil (who appears to have 
usually taken a conspicuous part in mediaeval pageant- 
ry, and was supposed to have been a magician), accom- 



124 TWELFTH-DAY, OR OLD CHRISTMAS. 

panies the kings on their journey, and at the end of 
the adoration joins them very devoutly in the " bene- 
dicamus." 

" The Feast of the Three Kings " was first performed 
by the Monks of the Mendicant Order, who studied 
the arts of popular entertainment in Milan, in 1366. 
" On the Feast of Epiphany," says the Italian chronicler, 
Gualvanei de la Flamma, "the first feast of the three 
kings was celebrated at Milan by the convent of the 
friars' Preachers. The three kings appeared crowned, on 
three great horses, richly habited, surrounded by pages, 
body-guards, and an innumerable retinue. A golden 
star was exhibited in the sky, going before them. They 
proceeded to the pillars of St. Lawrence, where king 
Herod was represented with his scribes and wise men. 
The three kings ask Herod where Christ should be 
born ; and his wise men, having consulted their books, 
answer him, at Bethlehem. On which, the three kings 
with their golden crowns, having in their hands golden 
cups filled with frankincense, myrrh, and gold, the star 
still going before, marched to the church of St. Eustor- 
gius, with all their attendants ; preceded by trumpets, 
and horns, apes, baboons, and a great variety of animals. 
In the church, on one side of the high altar, there was 
a manger with an ox and an ass, and in it the infant 
Christ in the arms of his mother. Here the three 
kings offer their gifts, etc. The concourse of the peo- 
ple, of knights, ladies, and ecclesiastics, was such as 
never before was beheld." 



TWELFTH-DAY, OR OLD CHRISTMAS. 1 25 

Du Cange gives a very similar account of the custom 
which was once prevalent in France : At the Feast 
of the Star, that is, the Epiphany, " Three of the prin- 
cipal Canons rode in procession to church with crowns 
upon their heads, dressed in royal robes, and carrying 
in their hands golden boxes, containing the offerings of 
gold, frankincense, and myrrh. A gilt star, raised by 
some mechanical contrivance, was drawn before them. 
There was a band of music, and they had many attend- 
ants disguised as baboons, apes, and other wild ani- 
mals." 

The Adoration of the Magi was a favorite sub- 
ject in our early English mysteries. In " Dives and 
Pauper," 1496, we read : " For to represente in playnge 
at Crystmasse Herodes and the Thre Kynges and 
other processes of the gospelles both than and at 
Ester, and at other times also, it is befull and comen- 
dable." 

These mysteries were suppressed early in the time 
of James the First; but the Adoration of the Magi 
was afterwards introduced as a puppet show at Bar- 
tholomew Fair, as late as the time of Queen Anne. 

This representation of the Adoration of the Magi 
has given place in more modern times, at least in 
France and England, to the still popular game of 
drawing for king and queen of Twelfth-Night. This 
custom has generally been supposed to be in honor of 
the Three Kings of Cologne ; although Mr. Soane 
thinks that in all probability it owes its origin to a 



126 TWELFTH-DAY, OR OLD CHRLSTMAS. 

Greek and Roman custom of casting lots at their 
banquets for who should be the "Rex Convivii" or as 
Horace calls him, the "Arbiter Bibendi? 1 However, 
this custom, according to Strutt, " was a common 
Christmas gambol in both of the English universi- 
ties, previous to the beginning of the last century." 

An old calendar says: "On the 5th of January — 
the Vigil of the Epiphany — the Kings of the Bean are 
created, and on the 6th the feast of the Kings shall 
be held, and also of the Queen, and let the banqueting 
be continued for many days." 

The usage now in regard to this game — particu- 
larly in France and England — is to place a bean and 
pea (or ring) in a Twelfth-cake, which, being divided, 
is distributed, and the persons finding the bean and 
pea, are the King and Queen of Twelfth-Night. 

Two hundred years ago the ingredients of the bean- 
cake were flour, honey, ginger, and pepper. " But it 
would not compete," says Mr. Sandys, c: with that 
beautiful, frosted, festooned, bedizened, and orna- 
mented piece of confectionery, now called, par emi- 
nence, ' Twelfth-cake,' with its splendid waxen or 
plaster-of-paris kings and queens, the delight and ad- 
miration of school-boys and girls." 

In some parts of France the Bean-King is elected 
by another process. A child is placed under a table 

- x " After the rose and ivy wreaths and perfumes and ointments had been dis- 
tributed, the chairman or king of the feast was chosen by throw of dice. He 
who threw Venus, or the six, became king. The lowest cast was called the 
dog." — The Albion. 



TWELFTH-DAY, OR OLD CHRISTMAS. 12 J 

where he can see nothing ; and the master of the feast, 
holding up a piece of cake, demands whose portion it 
is to be. The child replies according to his own 
fancy, and this game continues till the piece which 
contains the bean has been allotted. A whole court 
is thus formed, the fool not being forgotten, and every 
time either of these magistrates is seen to drink, the 
company are bound to cry out under pain of forfeit, 
" The King (or the Queen) drinks." 

In London, it is or was the custom for the Lord 
Mayor to give a Twefth-Night Party at the Mansion 
House. The King and Queen of the Bean were 
chosen by lot, and were surrounded not by " baboons, 
apes, and other wild animals," but by highly respectable 
ladies and gentlemen who wore on their sleeves 
pictorial representations of grotesque Twelfth-Night 
Characters, 1 which they were expected to sustain, mod- 
ern notions not permitting a nearer approach to medi- 
aeval Christmas Mummery. 

In short, the " Feast of the Star," known in France 
as " Fete des Rois ; " in the Low Countries as " Drie- 
koningendag " (The Day of the Three Kings) ; and 
throughout Germany as the " Tag der Heiligen dree 

1 Britton, in his Autobiography, tells us he " suggested and wrote a series of 
Twelfth-Night Characters to be printed on cards, placed in a bag, and drawn out 
at parties on the memorable and merry evenings of that ancient festival. They 
were sold in small packets to pastry-cooks, and led the way to a custom which an- 
nually grew to an extensive trade. For the second year my pen and ink charac- 
ters were accompanied by prints of the different personages by Cruikshank (fathei 
of the inimitable George), all of a comic or ludicrous kind." 



128 TWELFTH-DAY, OR OLD CHRISTMAS. 

Konige " [" Feast of the Three Holy Kings "], has been 
generally observed from a very early period as a pop- 
ular and domestic holiday. 

" Cologne, of course, celebrates with great pomp and noise and 
public festivity, the day of the venerated Kings whose relics she 

guards Everywhere it is the children's favorite holiday. 

In many places fairs are held with booths full of toys, trinkets, and 
confectionary ; while masked or fantastically decorated processions 
roam about the streets headed by three crowned children. Even in 
sober, methodical, commercial Lutheran Hamburg, business is sus- 
pended Friendly presents are given and all the children 

made happy by their holiday wealth as well as by their holiday 
frolicks. The morning opens with merry chimes from the church 
towers, the streets are vocal all day with the chants and carols of 
chorister-boys, in houses, public and private, rises the smell of the 
feast, mixed with the perfumes of flowers and of Rhein weim .... 
On that sixth of January night, in that far northern city swept by 
keen blasts from the North Sea, it must be a wild night, indeed, 
which can prevent the streets from being vocal with music and song. 
.... Throughout the Netherlands, whether Belgian or Batavian, 
in both branches of the separated but kindred people, Flemish and 
Low Dutch, this same festival ' de Drinckoningenfeest ' is observed 
by all classes. It is kept more as a social holiday by the Holland- 
ers, and in Flanders with more of the external ceremonial of 
Cologne ; but in both, the general custom of election by lot prevails, 
and in both there is a display and consumption of cakes and 
' cookies ' of all sorts, which would put Herrick's ' mighty cakes ' 
out of countenance." 

In our own metropolis, we have had a recent (1858) 
example of its festive influence. The Century Club of 
New York, having built a new and spacious club- 



TWELFTH-DAY, OR OLD CHRLSTMAS. 1 29 

house, selected Twelfth-Night as the most appropriate 
season for its inauguration. 1 Nothing of antique splen- 
dor seems to have been wanting on the occasion. The 
whole building, like the baronial hall of the olden 
time, was devoted to the festival. At " half-past ten 
o'clock the company had assembled, when the Herald, 
richly clothed in an official costume, approached the 
President and handed him a baton of office, and then 
preceded him to the foot of the throne, making way 
among the crowd as he passed. The President an- 
nounced that an election for King and Queen of Twelfth- 
Night would take place, according to time-honored 
usage, and he directed the Herald to make proclama- 
tion to that effect, which duty that officer performed 
with a flourish of his trumpet, calling upon the assem- 
bly to attend to this august ceremony. The election 
was held in keeping with ancient form, the symbols of 
the royal office being deposited in a Twelfth-Night 
cake, which was cut up and handed around on massive 
silver salvers. During this ceremony and the proceed- 
ing of election, the whole court advanced in procession, 
an imposing retinue of characteristic personages, with 
pages, in white satin, bearing the two crowns on splen- 
did red cushions, whilst choristers in antique garbs, 
chanted alternately, the Boar's Head Hymn to an 
ancient tune, supported in chorus by numerous voices, 
and with a most effective orchestra." 

These Christmas Mummeries, in spite of certain in- 

1 See Twelfth-Night at the Century Club, New York, 1858. [Appleton & Co.] 
9 



130 TWELFTH-DAY, OR OLD CHRLSTMAS. 

novations and irregularities gave great satisfaction to 
the numerous and distinguished company assembled. 
The " Bringing in of the Boar's Head " ought to have 
been at and not before the supper which followed the 
installation ceremonies of the King and Queen, whilst 
for a coronation anthem nothing could have been more 
appropriate than Herrick's Twelfth-Night Song : x — 

" Now, now the mirth comes, 
With the cake full of plums, 

Where Bean 's the King of the sports here ; 
Besides, we must know, 
The Pea also 

Must revel as Queen in the court here. 

" Begin then to choose, 
This night as you use, 

Who shall, for the present delight here, 
Be a King by the lot, 
And who shall not 

Be Twelfth-Day Queen for the night here. 

" Which known, let us make 
Joy-sops with the cake ; 

And let not a man then be seen here, 
Who, unurged, will not drink, 
To the base from the brink, 

A health to the king and the queen here. 

"Next crown the bowl full 
With gentle lamb's wool ; 

Add sugar, nutmeg, and ginger, 

1 This carol has been set to music by Novelio. 



TWELFTH-DAY, OR OLD CHRISTMAS. 131 

With store of ale too ; 
And thus must ye do 

To make the wassail a swinger. 

" Give then to the King 
And Queen wassailing ; 

And though with ale ye be wet here, 
Yet part ye from hence, 
As free from offense, 

As when ye innocent met here." 







CHAPTER XII. 



SHROVE-TIDE J OR CARNIVAL. 



J-'IfMIMu 




H E 

Festival of 
the Puri- 
fication [Feb. 2d], com- 
monly called Candlemas 
Day, 1 has from very early 
times been considered 
the extreme limit of the 
Christmas Holidays. 

Now the evergreens 
must be removed : — 

Down with the rosemary and 

bays, 
Down with the mistletoe ; 

That so the superstitious find 
Not one least branch left 
there behind ; 

1 The custom of carrying candles in procession on Candlemas Day, was espe- 
:ially enjoined by Henry VIII. The King in royal proclamation (1539) says : 



SHROVE-TIDE, OR CARNIVAL. 1 33 

For look, how many leaves there be 
Neglected there, maids, trust to me 
So many goblins you shall see. 

Now the Lord of Misrule, dismounting from his 
hobby-horse, must lay aside his baton of authority, and 
like his quondam willing subjects henceforth submit 
himself to the rule of Right Reason. Now vacations 
have come to an end, and scholars must return to 
books and to birch, for, in the words of the old Scotch 
rhymes : — - 

Yule's come and Yule's gane 
And we hae feasted weel ; 
Sae Jock maun to his flail again, 
And Jenny to her wheel. 

In days of yore, however, there was a partial revival 
of holiday sports and pastimes at Shrove-tide, " which 
among the Roman Catholics was the time appointed 
for shriving or confession of sins, and was also ob- 
served as a carnival before the commencement of Lent. 
The former of these ceremonies, says Mr. Drake, was 
dispensed with at the Reformation ; but the rites at- 
tending the latter were for a time supported with a 
rival spirit of hilarity. The Monday and Tuesday suc- 
ceeding Shrove-Sunday, called Collop Monday, and 
Pancake Tuesday, were peculiarly devoted to Shrove- 

" On Candlemas Day, it shall be declared that the bearing of candles is done in 
memory of Christ, the spiritual light whom Simeon did prophesy, as it is read in 
the Church that day." 



134 SHROVE-TIDE, OR CARNIVAL. 

tide amusements, the first having been, in papal times, 
the period at which they took leave of flesh, or slices 
of meat, termed collops, in the north, which had been 
preserved through the winter by salting and drying, 
and the second was a relic of the feast preceding Lent ; 
eggs and collops therefore on the Monday, and pan- 
cakes, as a delicacy, on the Tuesday, were duly if not 
religiously served up." 

" Shrove or Pancake Tuesday, is still called in the 
North of England, Fastens, or Fasterns' E'en, as pre- 
ceding Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent ; and the 
turning of these cakes is yet observed as a feat of 
dexterity and skill." 

Taylor, the Water Poet, in his " Jack-a-Lent " works, 
1630, gives the following curious account of the 
Shrove-Tuesday observances of his time : — 

" Shrove-Tuesday at whose entrance in the morning all the whole 
kingdom is in quiet, but by that time the clock strikes eleven, which 
(by the help of a knavish sexton) is commonly before nine, then 
there is a bell rung, cal'd the Pancake-bell, the sound whereof 
makes thousands of people distracted, and forgetfull either of man- 
ners or humanitie ; then there is a thing cald wheaten flowre, which 
the cookes doe mingle with water, egges, spice, and other tragicall, 
magicall inchantments, and then they put it by little into a frying- 
pan of boyling suet, where it makes a confused dismall hissing (like 
the Learnean snakes in the reeds of Acheron, Stix or Phlegethon) 
until 1, at last, by the skill of the cooke, it is transferred into the form 
of a Flap-jack, cal'd a Pancake, which ominous incantation the 
ignorant people doe devoure very greedily." 

This Pancake-bell, which in ancient times called the 



SHROVE-TIDE, OR CARNIVAL, 1 35 

faithful to confession, still continues in some places to 
summon people to the more cheerful occupation above 
described. 

According to the " Book of Days," this custom is 
still observed with great solemnity at the Westminster 
School : — 

"At 11 o'clock, a. m., a verger of the Abbey, in his gown, bearing 
a silver mace, emerges from the college kitchen, followed by the 
cook of the school, in his white apron, jacket, and cap, and car- 
rying a pancake. On arriving at the school-room door, he announces 
himself ' The Cook ; ' and having entered the school-room, he 
advances to the bar which separates the upper school from the 
lower one, twirls the pancake in the pan, and then tosses it over the 
bar into the upper school, among a crowd of boys who scramble for 
the pancake ; and he who gets it unbroken, and carries it to the 
Deanery, demands the honorarium of a guinea (sometimes two 
guineas) from the Abbey funds ; though the custom is not mentioned 
in the Abbey Statutes. The cook also receives two guineas for his 
performance." 

The custom of cock-throwing was a diversion pecul- 
iar to Shrove-tide, and is said to have originated in the 
barbarous yet less savage amusement of cock-fighting. 
According to Fitzstephen, who wrote in the reign of 
Henry II., "Every year on Shrove-Tuesday, that we 
may begin with children's sports, seeing we all have 
been children, the school-boys do bring cocks of the 
game to their master, and all the forenoon they delight 
themselves in cock-fighting." 

At what period this degenerated into cock-throwing 
cannot now be ascertained. The first effective blow 
directed against the sport appears to have been given 



136 SHROVE-TIDE, OR CARNIVAL. 

by Hogarth, who in one of his prints called " The Four 
Stages of Cruelty," has represented among other puerile 
diversions, a group of boys throwing at a cock. 

Hilman gives the following amusing account of a 
somewhat similar Shrove-tide custom known as thresh- 
ing the fat hen : " The hen," says he, " is hung at a fel- 
low's back, who has also some horse-bells about him ; 
the rest of the fellows are blinded, and have boughs in 
their hands with which they chase this fellow and his 
hen about some large court or small enclosure. The 
fellow with his hen and bells shifting as well as -he can, 
they follow the sound, and sometimes hit him and his 
hen ; and at other times if he can get behind one of 
.them, they thresh one another well favour'dly, but the 
jest is, the maids are to blind the fellows, which they 
do with their aprons, and the cunning baggages will 
endear their sweet-hearts with a peeping hole, whilst 
the others look out as sharp to hinder it. After this 
the hen is boiled with bacon, and store of pancakes 
and flitters are made. She that is noted for lying in 
bed long, or any other miscarriage, hath the first pan- 
cake presented to her which most commonly falls to 
the dogs' share at last, for no one will own it their 
due." 

" The evening of Shrove-Tuesday," says Mr. Drake, 
" was usually appropriated, as well in the country as in 
the town, to the exhibition of dramatic pieces. Not 
only at Court, where Jonson was occasionally employed 
to write Masques on this night, but at both the univer- 



SHROVE-TIDE, OR CARNIVAL. 137 

sities, in the provincial schools, and in the halls of the 
gentry and nobility were these the amusements of 
Shrove-tide, during the days of Elizabeth and James." 1 
At Shrove-tide the Inns of Court had what they 
called Post Revels, coming as Dugdale says, " at the 
latter end of Christmas," and among the Masques and 
pageants described in the preceding pages, none could 
have been more interesting than those of the years 
1612-1613. 

"Seldom," says Mr. Jeaffreson, "had the Thames presented a 
more picturesque and exhilarating spectacle than it did on the 
evening of February 20, 16 12, when the gentlemen masquers of 
Gray's Inn and the Temple, entered the king's royal barge at Win- 
chester House, at seven o'clock, arid made the voyage to Whitehall, 
attended by hundreds of barges and boats, each vessel being so 
brilliantly illuminated that the lights reflected upon the ripples of 
the river seemed to be countless. As though the hum and huzzas 
of the vast multitude on the water were insufficient to announce the 
approach of the dazzling pageant, guns marked the progress of the 
revellers, and as they drew near the palace, all the attendant bands 
of musicians played the same stirring tune with uniform time. It 
is on record that the king received the amateur actors with an ex- 
cess of condescension, and was delighted with the masque which 
Master Beaumont of the Inner Temple, and his friend Master 
Fletcher, had written and dedicated ' to the worthy Sir Francis 
Bacon, his Majesty's Solicitor General, and the grave and learned 

1 In a chronological series of Queen Elizabeth's payments for plays acted be- 
fore her is the following entry, 18th March, 1573-4: " To Richard Mouncaster 
[Mulcaster, the Grammarian] for two plays presented before her on Candlemas- 
day and Shrove-tuesday last, 20 marks." In the Percy Household Book, 1512, it 
appears that the clergy and officers of Lord Percy's Chapel, performed a play be- 
fore his lordship upon Shrove-tuesday at night. 



138 SHROVE-TIDE, OR CARNIVAL. 

bench of the anciently-called houses of Grayes Inn, and the Inner 
Temple, and the Inner Temple and Grayes Inn.' The Inner Tem- 
ple and Gray's Inn having thus testified their loyalty and dramatic 
taste; in the following year, on Shrove-Monday Night (February 15, 
1613), Lincoln's Inn and the Middle Temple, with no less splendor 
and eclat, enacted at Whitehall, a masque, written by George Chap- 
man. For this entertainment, Inigo Jones designed and perfected 
the theatrical decorations in a style worthy of an exhibition thai 
formed part of the gayeties with which the marriage of the Palsgrave 
with the Princess Elizabeth was celebrated. And though the 
masquers went to Whitehall by land, their progress was not less 
pompous than the procession which had passed up the Thames in 
the February of the preceding year. Having mustered in Chancery 
Lane, at the official residence of the Master of the Rolls, the actors 
and their friends delighted the town with a gallant spectacle. 
Mounted on richly-caparisoned and mettlesome horses, they rode 
from Fleet Street up the Strand, and by Charing Cross to Whitehall, 
through a tempest of enthusiasm. Every house was illuminated, 
every window was crowded with faces, on every roof men stood in 
rows, from every balcony bright eyes looked down upon the gay 
scene, and from basement to garret, from kennel to roof-top 
throughout the long way, deafening cheers testified, whilst they 
increased the delight of the multitude. Such a pageant would, even 
in these sober days, rouse London from her cold propriety. Hav- 
ing thrown aside his academic robe, each masquer had donned a 
fantastic dress of silver cloth embroidered with gold lace, gold 
plate, and ostrich plumes. He wore across his breast a gold bal- 
drick, round his neck a rufl of white feathers brightened with pearls 
and silver lace, and on his head a coronal of snowy plumes. Be- 
fore each mounted masquer rode a torch bearer, whose right hand 
waved a scourge of flame, instead of a leathern thong. In a gor- 
geous chariot, preceded by a long train of heralds, were exhibited the ' 
Dramatis Personam — Honor, Plutus, Eunomia, Phemeis, Capriccio 
— arrayed in their appointed costume ; and it was rumored that 



SHROVE-TIDE, OR CARNIVAL. 139 

the golden canopy of their coach had been bought for an enormous 
sum. Two other triumphal cars conveyed the twelve chief musi- 
cians of the kingdom, and these masters of melody were guarded 
by torchbearers, marching two deep before and behind, and on 
either side of the glittering carriages. Preceding the musicians, 
rode a troop of ludicrous objects, who roused the derision of the 
mob, and made fat burghers laugh till tears ran down their cheeks. 
They were the mock masque, each resembling an ape, each wearing 
a fantastic dress that heightened the hideous absurdity of his mon- 
key's visage, each riding upon an ass, or small pony, and each of 
them throwing shells upon the crowd by way of largess. In the 
front of the mock masque, forming the vanguard of the entire 
spectacle, rode fifty gentlemen of the Inns of Court, reigning high 
bred horses, and followed by their running foot-men, whose liveries 
added to the gorgeous magnificence of the display." 

Among the favorite amusements at Shrove- tide, even 
so early as the time of Henry II., was the game of foot- 
ball. According to Fitzstephen : " After dinner, all 
the youth of the city goeth to play at the ball in the 
fields ; the scholars of every study have their balls ; the 
practises also of all the trades have every one their ball 
in their hands. The ancienter sort, the fathers and 
the wealthier citizens, come on horse-back, to see these 
youngsters contending at their sport, with whom, in a 
manner, they participate by motion ; stirring their own 
natural heat in the view of the active youth, with whose 
mirth and liberty they seem to communicate." 

Brand says : — 

" With regard to the custom of playing at foot-ball on Shrove- 
Tuesday, I was informed that at Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, 



I40 SHROVE-TIDE, OR CARNIVAL. 

the waits belonging to the town came playing to the castle every 
year on Shrove-Tuesday, at two o'clock, p. m., when a foot-ball was 
thrown over the castle walls to the populace. I saw this done Feb- 
ruary 5, 1788." 

Billet, or Tip-cat, was also a popular game for this 
day, and in some parts of the North of England it is 
customary for the girls to occupy some part of the 
festival by the game of battledoor and shuttlecock, 
singing: — 

" Great A, little A, 
This is Pancake Day \ 
Toss the ball high, 
Throw the ball low, 
Those that come after 
May sing heigh-ho ! " 

In Sir John Sinclair's " Statistical Account of Scot- 
land," 1795, we read : " On Shrove-Tuesday there is a 
standing match at foot-ball between the married and 
unmarried women, in which the former are always vic- 
torious." In the same work we read : " Every year on 
Shrove-Tuesday the bachelors and married men drew 
themselves up at the Cross of Scone on opposite sides. 
A ball was then thrown up, and they played from 
two o'clock till sunset." 

This custom is supposed to have had its origin in 
the days of chivalry. An Italian, it is said, came into 
this part of the country, challenging all the parishes 
under a certain penalty in case of declining his chal- 



SHROVE-TIDE, OR CARNIVAL. 141 

lenge. All the parishes declined the challenge except 
Scone, which beat the foreigner, and in commemora- 
tion of this gallant action the game was instituted. 
Whilst the custom continued, every man in the parish, 
the gentry not excepted, was obliged to turn out and 
support the side to which he belonged, and the person 
who neglected to do his part on that occasion was 
fined. 

Another singular Shrove-tide contest carried on by 
boys and girls in Kent, is thus described in the " Gen- 
tleman's Magazine," 1772. The custom appears to be 
a remnant of ancient Carnival or Shrove-tide merri- 
ment, of which but few traces are now to be found 
among the popular observances of the times : — 

" Being on a visit on Tuesday last, in a little obscure village in 
this county, I found an odd kind of sport going forward ; the girls, 
from eighteen to five or six years old, were assembled in a crowd, 
and burning an uncouth effigy, which they called an Holly-boy, and 
which it seems they had stolen from the boys ; who, in another part 
of the village, were assembled together and burning what they 
called an Ivy-girl, which they had stolen from the girls. All this 
ceremony was accompanied with loud huzzas, noise, and acclama- 
tions. What it all means I cannot tell, although I inquired of 
several of the oldest people in the place, who could only answer 
that it had always been a sport at this season of the year." 

The holly and the ivy being Christmas evergreens, 
the ceremony described may perhaps have been a face- 
tious way of signifying that the Christmas holidays 
were at last come to an end. 



H 2 SHROVE-TIDE, OR CARNIVAL. 

The following quaint old carol of the time of Henry 
VI. seems to have reference to some such custom as 
that just described : — 

NAY, IVY, NAY! 

" Nay, Ivy, nay, it shall not be, I wis, 
Let Holly have the mastery, as the manner is. 
Holly standeth in the hall fair to behold, 
Ivy stands without the door ; she is full sore a cold. 

Nay, Ivy, nay, etc. 

" Holly and his merry men, they dance now and they sing ; 
Ivy and her maidens, they weep, and their hands wring. 

Nay, Ivy, nay, etc. 

" Ivy hath a lybe, 1 she caught it with the cold, 
So may they all have, that do with Ivy hold. 

Nay, Ivy, nay, etc. 

" Holly he hath berries, as red as any rose, 
The foresters, the hunters, keep them from the does. 

Nay, Ivy, nay, etc. 

" Ivy she hath berries, as black as any sloe, 
There come the owls and eat them as they go. 

Nay, Ivy, nay, etc. 

" Holly he hath birds, a full fair flock, 
The nightingale, the poppinjay, the gentle laverock. 

Nay, Ivy, nay, etc. 

1 The word is not explained by any glossary. 



SHROVE-TIDE, OR CARNIVAL. 143 

" Good Ivy say to us, what birds hast thou ? 
None but the owlet that cries, ' How ! How ! ' 

Nay, Ivy, nay," etc. 

The following from Mr. Wright's MS. seems also to 
have reference to this sylvan warfare, which appears to 
have been conducted with rustic courtesy, and in the 
true spirit of chivalry : — 

" Holly and Ivy made a great party, 
Who should have the mastery 

In lands where they go. 

" Then spake Holly, ' I am fierce and jolly, 
I will have the mastery 

In lands where we go.' 

" Then spake Ivy, ' I am loud and proud, 
And I will have the mastery 

In lands where we go.' 

" Then spake Holly, and bent him down on his knee, 
' I pray thee, gentle Ivy, essay me no villainy, 
In lands where we go.' " 



CHAPTER XIII. 



EASTER. 




H E 

term 
East- 





er is derived, as some 
suppose, from the 
Saxon " Oster," to 
rise ; this being the 
day of Christ's ris- 
ing from the dead. 
Others, however, 
maintain that this 
Queen of Christian 
festivals, takes its 
name from Eoster 
or Easter, a Saxon 
goddess whose re- 
ligious rites were cel- 
ebrated in the begin- 
ning of Spring. 
Soane suggests 
that the Saxon Easter or Eoster, the Greek 'Acnr^p, the 



EASTER. 145 

English Star, and the Hebrew Ashtaroth, have all 
come from the same long-forgotten original, perhaps 
Phoenician, word signifying " Fire." 

It was anciently the custom in England to put out 
all the fires and relight them on Easter-Even, from 
consecrated flints preserved in churches specially for 
that purpose. The popular belief was that holy fire, 
obtained in this manner, would prevent the effect of 
storms, etc. Fosbrooke, quoting Rupert, says, " The 
flint signified Christ, and the fire the Holy Ghost." 

The custom of putting out the fire in the hall also 
at this season, appears to have been connected with 
this ecclesiastical observance. The "Festival" (15 11), 
referring to this domestic usage, says : — - 

" This day (Easter) is called, in many places, Goddes Sondaye ; 
ye know well that it is the maner at this daye to do the fyre out of 
the hall, and the black Wynter brandes, and all thynges that is 
foule with fume and smoke shall be done awaye, and there the fyre 
was, shall be gayly arayed with fayre flowres, and strewed with 
grene rysshes all aboute." 

Dr. Drake in his work, " Shakespeare and his 
Times," says that, " Easter was formerly a season of 
great social festivities ; " and also that, " it was cus- 
tomary for the common people — even as they do still 
in Ireland — to rise early on Easter morning to see 
the sun dance." Metaphorically considered, the 
thought may be termed both just and beautiful ; for as 
" the earth and her valleys standing thick with corn " 



10 



I4 6 EASTER. 

are said to " laugh and sing," so, on account of the 
glory of the Resurrection, the sun may be said to 
"dance " for joy — the natural rising of the sun being, 
as it were, typical of the rising of the "Sun of Righ- 
teousness" from the darkness of the grave. The earth 
also, awaking at this season from its death-like wintry 
slumber, seems to make an appropriate response to 
this celestial demonstration of joy by its own most 
beautiful Easter offering of Spring flowers. 

This idea has been happily expressed by Paulinus, 
Bishop of Nola (431) : — 

" Sing praises to your God, ye youths, and pay your holy vows, 
The floor with many flowers strew, the threshold bind with 

boughs ; 
Let Winter breathe a fragrance forth, like as the purple Spring ; 
Let the young year, before the time, its floral treasures bring 
And Nature yield, to this Great Day, herself an offering." 

In addition to the use of flowers at Easter, our 
pious forefathers symbolized the cardinal doctrine of 
the Christian Faith, even in their holiday sports and 
pastimes. 

One of the most curious of these popular observ- 
ances is that of " lifting " or " heaving," which is un- 
doubtedly a vulgar representation of the Resurrection. 
The kiss, which forms an essential part of the usage, 
is still the appropriate Easter salutation in the Greek 
Church. 1 

1 " All the inhabitants in festival array, were hurrying along to pay their visits 
and receive their congratulations, everyone as he met his friend, saluted him with 
a kiss on each side of his face, and repeated the words Xpiaros aveo-rr} — " Christ 
is risen." — Easter in the Greek Church. 



EASTER. 147 

Such recreations may seem to us childish, if not pro- 
fane, but in other days they may have been very edi- 
fying to simple-minded folk. 

The ceremony has been thus described : — 

" On Easter-Monday the men lift the women ; and on Easter- 
Tuesday the women lift, or heave, the men. The process is per- 
formed by two lusty men, or women, joining their hands across each 
other's wrists ; then, making the person to be heaved, sit down on 
their arms, they lift him up aloft three times, and often carry him 
several yards along a street. At the end of the ceremony the per- 
son lifted is duly kissed by the lifters, and a forfeit claimed. Some 
times, instead of crossed hands, a chair or bed is used." 

Mr. Ellis inserts in his edition of Brand's " Popular 
Antiquities " a letter from Mr. Thomas Loggan, of 
Basinghall Street, London, in which he says : — 

" I was sitting alone last Easter-Tuesday at breakfast, at the 
Talbot Inn, Shrewsbury, when I was surprised by the entrance of 
all the female servants of the house handing in an arm-chair, lined 
with white, and decorated with ribbons and favors of different colors. 
I asked them what they wanted : their answer was, they came to 
heave me ; it was the custom of the place on that morning, and they 
hoped I would take a seat in their chair. It was impossible not to 
comply with a request very modestly made, and by a set of nymphs 
in their best apparel, and several of them under twenty. I wished 
to see all the ceremony, and seated myself accordingly. The group 
then lifted me from the ground, turned the chair about, and I had 
the felicity of a salute from each. I told them I supposed there was 
a fee on the occasion, and was answered in the affirmative, and hav- 
ing satisfied the damsels in this respect, they withdrew to heave 
others. At this time I had never heard of such a custom ; but on 



148 EASTER. . 

inquiry I found that on Easter-Monday, between nine and twelve, 
the men heave the women, in the same manner as on the Tuesday, 
between the same hours, the women heave the men." 

This custom of "heaving "is probably of Oriental 
origin and may have been brought from the East by 
the Crusaders. In the time of the Plantagenets it was 
a courtly ceremony, differing from its " survival " in 
degree rather than in principle, for we find from a roll 
in the custody of the Keeper of the Records in the 
Tower of London, that certain ladies and maids of 
honor received payment for taking King Edward I. in 
his bed at Easter : — 

" To the ladies of the Queen's chamber 15 th of May ; seven ladies 
and damsels of the Queen, because they took (or lifted) the King in 
his bed, on the morrow of Easter, and made him pay fine for the 
peace of the King, which he made of his gift by the hand of Hugh 
de Cerr (or Kerr), Esq., to the Lady of Weston, ^"14." 

Perhaps the nursery pastime of " making a chair," 
still in vogue among children, is a relic of this ancient 
custom. 

The game of hand-ball, however, another of the 
Easter sports, appears to have had a very different 
fortune, and to have developed itself into those most 
manly of athletic sports, cricket and base-ball. 

In ancient times, say the Ritualists Belethus and 
Durandus — 

" The bishops and archbishops on the Continent used to recreate 
themselves in the game of hand-ball with their inferior clergy ; and in 



EASTER 149 

England, also, the game appears to have been made a part of the 
regular Church service at Chester. Bishops and deans took the 
ball into the Cathedral, and at the commencement of the antiphon, 
began to dance, throwing the ball to the choristers, who handed it 
to each other during the time of the dancing and antiphon." 

Dancing, during some thousands of years was a 
religious ceremony. In the Temples of Jerusalem, 
Samaria, and Alexandria, a stage for these exercises 
was erected in one part, thence called the choir, the 
name of which has been preserved in our churches, and 
the custom too, it seems, till within a few centuries. 
Cardinal Ximenes revived in his time the practice of 
Mosarabic Masses in the Cathedral of Toledo, when 
the people danced, both in the choir and in the nave, 
with great decorum and devotion. 

In England, corporate bodies used to join with their 
burgesses and young people in their Easter games. 
Such was once the custom, says Mr. Brand, at Newcas- 
tle, at the Feasts of Easter and Whitsuntide, when the 
mayor, aldermen, and sheriff, accompanied by great 
numbers of the burgesses, used to go- yearly at these 
seasons to the Forth or little mall of the town, with 
mace, sword, and cap of maintenance carried before 
them, and not only countenance, but frequently join in, 
the diversions of hand-ball, dancing, etc. There was 
also in the ancient city of Chester a similar custom, 
when at the great Festival of Easter, " The mayor and 
corporation, with the twenty guilds established in Ches- 
ter, with their wardens at their heads, set forth in all 



1 5° EASTER. 

their pageantry to the Rood-eye (an open meadow by 
the river side), to play at foot-ball. The mayor with his 
mace, sword, and cap of maintenance, stood before the 
Cross, whilst the guild of shoemakers, to whom the right 
had belonged from time immemorial, presented him with 
the ball of the value of ' three and four-pence or above,' 
and all set to work right merrily." But as too often 
falls out in this game, "great strife did arise among 
^he younge persons of the same cittie," and hence, in 
the time of Henry VIII., this piece of homage to the 
mayor was converted into a present from the shoe- 
makers to the drapers, of six gleaves or hand-darts of 
silver, to be given for the best foot-race ; whilst the 
saddlers, who went in procession on horseback, attired 
in all their bravery, each carrying a spear with a 
wooden ball, decorated with flowers and arms, ex- 
changed their offering for a silver bell, which should 
be a " reward for that horse which with speedy run- 
ninge should run before all others." These silver bells 
were in the seventeenth century converted into cups, 
or other pieces of plate, which still continue to.be the 
" trophies of victory " at horse-races. 

But the ordinary prize at games of ball during Eas- 
ter, was the Tansy-cake : — 

" At stool-ball, Lucia, let us play 
For sugar cakes and wine ; 
Or for a tansy let us play, 
The loss be thine or mine. 



EASTER. 1 5 I 

" If thou, my dear, a winner be, 
At trundling of the ball, 
The wager thou shalt have and me, 
And my misfortunes all." 

These cakes were made of flour, butter, sugar, sher- 
ry, cream, and tansies ; whence they derived the name 
of " tansays," or " tansy-cakes." The tansy having 
reference, says Selden, to the bitter herbs used by the 
Jews at the Passover, though at the same time, " 'twas 
always the fashion for a man to have a gammon of 
bacon to show himself to be no Jew." The Jews 
themselves, however, says Brady, in his " Clavis Calen- 
daria," " long since contrived to diminish the bitter 
flavor of the tansy, by making it into a pickle for their 
Paschal Lamb, from whence we borrowed the custom 
of taking mint and sugar as a general sauce for that 
description of food." 

Another custom which prevailed in the olden time^ 
and which is still kept up both in England and Ire- 
land, and even in this country, is that of presenting 
children with eggs, stained with various colors in boil- 
ing, and curiously ornamented with devices and mot- 
toes ; they are termed " paste," or more properly 
" Pasche Eggs." In the Greek Church likewise, says 
Brady, " Eggs still continue to form a part of the cere- 
monies of the day; and there also, presents of eggs, 
from one individual to another, are considered as pious 
attentions." This observance appears to have arisen 
from a belief that eggs were an emblem of the Res- 



1 5 2 EASTER. 

urrection. On this custom Mr. Brand has well ob- 
served that — 

" The ancient Egyptians, if the resurrection of the body had been 
a tenet of their faith, would perhaps have thought an egg no im- 
proper hieroglyphical representation of it. The exclusion of a 
living creature by incubation, after the vital principle has lain so 
long dormant or extinct, is a process so truly marvelous, that if it 
could be disbelieved, would be thought by some a thing as incred- 
ible, as that the Author of Life should be able to reanimate the 
dead." 

In the " Ritual " of Pope Paul V., which was com- 
posed for the use of the British Isles, there is this 
prayer for the consecration of eggs : — 

" Bless, O Lord, we beseech thee, this thy creature of eggs, that it 
may become a wholesome sustenance to thy faithful servants, eating 
it in thankfulness to thee, on account of the Resurrection of our 
Lord." 

In Lancashire and Cheshire, children still go round 
the village and beg eggs for the Easter dinner, accom- 
panying their solicitation by a short song, the burden 
of which is addressed to the farmer's dame, asking for 
" an egg, bacon, cheese, or an apple, or any good thing 
that will make us merry ; " and ending with, " And I 
pray you good dame an Easter egg. i} 

The observance in Lancashire of " Pace-egging," as 
it is there called, is a custom limited to the week pre- 
ceding Easter Day, commencing on the Monday and 
finishing on the Thursday before Easter Day. 



EASTER 153 

" Young men in groups, varying in number from three to twenty, 
dressed in various fantastic garbs, and wearing masks, some of the 
groups accompanied by a player or two on the violin, go from house 
to house singing, dancing, and capering. At most places they are 
liberally treated with wine, punch, or ale, dealt out to them by the 
host or hostess." 

The origin of this custom of collecting "Pasche 
eggs," may have been the resumption on the part of our 
forefathers of eggs and of animal food at Easter, on the 
termination of Lent. It seems, moreover, that at this 
season extreme caution was to be used in partaking of 
food of all kinds, and nothing was to be eaten which 
had not been previously blessed, or had not at least 
the sign of the Cross made over it ; for the faithful 
were thought just then to be particularly subject to 
the attacks of evil spirits. Durandus gives a lamen- 
table instance of the fatal consequences arising from a 
neglect of this precaution, and of which he was him- 
self an eye-witness : " Two devils got possession of a 
young girl, and tormented her for three years," a 
miracle which, says Mr. Soane, " is often renewed in 
our own days, but with this especial difference, that 
when the devil now possesses a woman, he does not 
torment herself but others." " However, on this occa- 
sion, a cunning exorcist drove the fiends out at last, 
having previously made them confess that they had 
been lying perdu in a melon, which the girl had incau- 
tiously eaten without first making the sign of the 
Cross." 



154 EASTER 

There has been a revival in modern times, even 
in this country, of the old Easter custom of "pace- 
egging." We refer to the usage of presenting one's 
friends on the morning of Easter Day, with a basket of 
pace-eggs. A dozen of these, of various colors, with 
mottoes and emblematic devices, artistically arranged 
in a fancy basket, make indeed a very appropriate 
Easter decoration for the drawing-room table, quietly 
greeting us with that most ancient of Easter saluta- 
tions (still retained in the Greek Church), 1 " Christ is 
risen ! " 2 

1 " No meetings take place of any kind without repeating the expressions of 
peace and joy. Christos voscress I Christ is risen ! To which the answer is always 
the same, Vo istiney voscress! He is risen indeed! On Easter Monday begins 
the presentation of the paschal eggs : lovers to their mistresses, relatives to each 
other, servants to their masters, all bring ornamented eggs. Every offering, at 
this season, is called a paschal egg. The meanest pauper in the street, present- 
ing an egg, and repeating the words Christos voscress, may demand a salute, even 
of the Empress." — Dr. darkens Travels {Moscow). 

2 For curious particulars in regard to the Easter " Sepulchre Show," see Ap- 
pendix, p. 243. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



ROGATION WEEK. 




^ N in- 
quiry 
into the festivities 
of the Easter Holi- 
days brings us to 
the consideration 
of those parochial 
process i on ings 
which in England 
distinguishes the 
season known in 
the Calendar as 
the Rogation Days. 
Rogation Sunday 
is the fifth Sunday 
after Easter, so 
called from the 
Latin rogare, ' to 

ask ' ; the Gospel for the Day, " teaching us how to 

ask of God so as we may obtain." 

The ancient custom of Perambulating or " Beating 



I5 6 ROGATION WEEK, 

the Bounds " of parishes, in Rogation Week, had, it 
is said, a twofold object. It was designed to sup- 
plicate the divine blessing on the fruits of the earth, 
and to preserve in all classes of the community a 
correct knowledge of, and due respect for, the bounds 
of parochial and individual property. 

" That every man might keep his own possessions, 
Our fathers used in reverent processions, 
(With zealous prayers, and with praisefull cheere), 
To walk the parish, limits once a year." — 

Wither ; 1635. 

It appears that these Rogation ceremonies origi- 
nated in the fifth century, in an age, says Dean 
Stanley, — 

" Gloomy with disaster and superstition, when heathenism was 
still struggling with Christianity ; when Christianity was disfigured 
by fierce conflicts within the Church ; when the Roman Empire was 
tottering to its ruin ; when the last great luminary of the Church — 
Augustine — had just passed away, amidst the forebodings of uni- 
versal destruction. The general disorder of the time was aggravated 
by an unusual train of calamities. Besides the ruin of society 
attendant on the invasion of the barbarians, there came a succession 
of droughts, pestilences, and earthquakes, which seemed to keep 
pace with the throes of the moral world. Of all these horrors, 
France was the centre. On one of these occasions, when the people 
had been hoping that with the Easter festival, some respite would 
come, a sudden earthquake shook the church at Vienne, on the 
Rhone. It was on Easter Eve ; the congregation rushed out; the 
Bishop of the city (Mamertus) was left alone before the altar. On 
that terrible night he formed a resolution of inventing a new form, 



ROGATION WEEK. I 57 

as he hoped, of drawing down the mercy of God. He determined 
that in the three days before Ascension Day, there should be a long 
procession to the nearest churches in the neighborhood. For four 
hundred years there were no prayers of this special kind in the 
Christian Church. The traveller who passes that beautiful old city 
(Vienne), on his way through France, may treasure up as he hurries 
by, the thought that along the banks of that rushing river, and from 
height to height of those encircling hills, were first heard the sounds 
of the Litany which are now so familiar. It was under a like 
pressure of calamities that the Litany first became part of our 
services." 

It is the earliest portion of the " Book of Common 
Prayer " in its present English form. 

It is not easy to say when or how these " Roga- 
tions " became mixed up with the parochial perambu- 
lations, but there cannot be the least doubt that the 
latter have been handed down from the times of the 
Romans. It is said to be only a Christian form of the 
Terminalia, established by Numa Pompilius in honor 
of the God Terminus, the guardian of fields and land- 
marks, and maintainer of peace amongst mankind. 

Before the Reformation, parochial perambulations 
were conducted with great state and ceremony. The 
lord of the manor, with a large banner, priests in 
surplices and with crosses, arid other persons with 
handbells and staves, followed by most of the parish- 
ioners, walked in procession round the parish, stopping 
at crosses, forming crosses on the ground, saying or 
singing gospels to the corn, and allowing drinkings 
and good cheer. 



158 ROGATION WEEK. 

"In 1554," says Strype, "the priests of Queen Mary's chapel, 
made public processions. All the three days there went her chapel 
about the fields : the first to St. Giles', and there sung Mass : the 
next day, being Tuesday, to St. Martin's-in-the-Fields ; and there a 
sermon was preached, and Mass sung • and the company drank 
there : the third day to Westminster, where a sermon was made, and 
then Mass and good cheer made ; and after about the park, and so 
to St. James's Court. 

" The same Rogation Week, went out of the Tower on procession 
priests and clerks, and the Lieutenant, with all his waiters and the 
axe of the Tower borne in procession ; the waits * attended. There 
joined in this procession the inhabitants also of St. Catharine's, 
Radcliff, Limehouse, Poplar, Stratford, Bow, Shoreditch, and all 
those that belonged to the Tower, with their Halberts. They went 
about the fields of St. Catherine's and the Liberties. 

" On the following Thursday, being Holy Thursday, or Ascension- 
Day, at the Court of St. James's, with heralds and sergeants of 
arms, and four Bishops, mitred, and Bishop Bonner, besides his 
mitre, wore a pair of slippers of silver and gold, and a pair of rich 
gloves with ouches of silver upon them, very rich." 

At the Reformation, says the " Book of Days," the 
ceremonies and practices deemed objectionable, were 
considerably modified, and a homily was prepared for 
the occasion, and injunctions were issued by royal 
authority, requiring that for " the perambulations of 
the circuits of the parishes, the people should, once a 
year, at the time accustomed, with the rector, vicar, or 

1 The waits here mentioned were minstrels. At this time, it appears there were 
few towns of any size or note in England that did not support a band of waits, 
who wore a peculiar costume. Those of the city of London appeared on state 
occasions, in blue gowns with red sleeves, with silver badges suspended from 
silver collars. 



ROGATION WEEK. 1 59 

curate, walk about the parishes as they were accus- 
tomed, and at their return to the church make their 
common prayer. And the curate, in their said com- 
mon perambulations, was at certain convenient places 
to admonish the people to give thanks to God (while 
beholding of his benefits) and for the increase and 
abundance of his fruits upon the face of the Earth, 
with the singing of the 103d Psalm." 

In strict accordance with these directions, we find 
that " the judicious Hooker " — a faithful exemplar of 
a true English churchman — duly observed the custom 
of perambulations. At such times, he would, says his 
biographer, " honest Isaac Walton," " usually express 
more pleasant discourse than at other times, and would 
then always drop some loving and facetious observa- 
tions to be remembered against the next year, espe- 
cially by the boys and young people, still inclining 
them, and all his present parishioners, to meekness 
and mutual kindness and love ; because love thinks not 
evil, but covers a multitude of infirmities" 

It seems, however, that sometimes instead of loving 
and facetious observations, sound floggings were ad- 
ministered to the boys, for the same desirable purpose 
of strengthening their memory. 

According to the " Saturday Review " [February 
15,1868]: — 

"At the yearly ceremony of beating parish boundaries, it was 
usual to beat not only the boundaries, but the boys ; or rather, per- 



160 ROGATION WEEK. 

haps, the phrase of 'beating' has been inaccurately transferred 
from the boys to the boundaries." x 

Boundaries of parishes and townships were, in many 
points, marked out by what are called " Gospel-trees." 
Herrick, that stanch maintainer of old English cus- 
toms, in " Hesperides," says : — 

" Dearest, bury me 
Under that Holy Oak, or Gospel Tree ; 
Where, though thou see'st not, thou may'st 
Think upon me, when thou yearly go'st procession." 

In Kentish Town, London, there still stands a pub- 
lic-house, which bears the significant sign of the Gos- 
pel Oak, taking its name from an old oak in the 
neighborhood, a relic of the olden time, suggestive of 
the once general custom of reading a portion of the 
Gospel for the day under certain trees, in the parish 
perambulations. 

In Herbert's " Country Parson, " we are told : — 

" The Country Parson is a lover of old customs, if they be good 
and harmlesse. Particularly he loves Procession, and maintains it, 
because there are contained therein four manifest advantages. 
First, a blessing of God for the fruits of the field. 2. Justice in the 

1 There is a curious old Norman record illustrative of this " beating " prin- 
ciple : " Duke Robert, just on the point of going to the Holy Land, made a gift 
to the Abbey of Preaux. His son, the future Conqueror, * adhuc ptierulus? was 
sent to lay the deed of gift on the altar. Let no one suppose that irreverent 
hands were laid on the person of the great Bastard, even at the age of seven 
years. But then and there, in the young prince's presence, three other boys had 
their ears solemnly boxed that they might remember all about it, " ob causam me- 
mories colaphum susceperant.^ 



ROGATION WEEK. 161 

preservation of bounds. 3. Charitie in loving, walking, and neigh- 
bourly accompanying one another, with reconciling of differences at 
that time, if there be any. 4. Mercie, in relieving the poor by a 
liberal distribution and largess, which at that time is or ought to be 
used. Wherefore he exacts of all to be present at the Perambula- 
tion, and those that withdraw and sever themselves from it he mis- 
likes, and reproves as uncharitable and unneighbourly ; and if they 
will not reforme, presents them." 

It appears that the ecclesiastic authorities at this 
time insisted particularly upon the religious obser- 
vances of these parochial perambulations. In the Arti- 
cles of Enquiry for the Archdeaconry of Northum- 
berland, the following occurs : " Doth your Parson or 
Vicar observe the Three Rogation Dayes ? " In 
others, for the Diocese of Chichester, 1637, is the sub- 
sequent question : — 

" Doth your minister yeerely, in Rogation Weeke, for the knowing 
and distinguishing of the bounds of parishes, and for obtaining 
God's blessing upon the fruites of the ground, walke the Perambula- 
tion, and say, or sing, in English, the Gospells, Epistles, Letanie, 
and other devout prayers ; together with the 103rd and 104th 
Psalmes ? " 

The necessity or determination to perambulate pre- 
cisely along the old track, often occasioned curious 
incidents. If a canal had been cut through the boun- 
dary of a parish, it was deemed necessary that some 
of the parishioners should pass through the water. 
Where a river formed part of the boundary line, the 

procession either passed along it in boats, or some of 
11 



162 ROGATION WEEK. 

the party stripped and swam along it, or boys were 
thrown into it at customary places. If a house had 
been erected on the boundary line, the procession 
claimed the right to pass through it. A ludicrous 
scene, it is said, occurred in London about the begin- 
ning of the present century. As the procession of 
church-wardens, parish officers, etc., followed by a con- 
course of cads, were perambulating the parish of St. 
George's, Hanover Square, they came to the part of a 
street where a nobleman's coach was standing just 
across the boundary line. The carriage was empty, 
waiting for the owner, who was in the opposite house ; 
the principal church-warden, — himself a nobleman, — 
therefore desired the coachman to drive out of their 
way. " I won't," said the sturdy coachman, " my lord 
told me to wait here, and here I will wait till his lord- 
ship tells me to move ! " The church-warden coolly 
opened the carriage door, entered it, passed out 
through the opposite door, and was followed by the 
whole procession, cads, sweeps, and scavengers. 

The religious part of these processions has, accord- 
ing to Mr. Chambers, been generally omitted in more 
modern times. 

" The custom has, however, of late years been revived in its 
integrity in many parishes ; and certainly, such perambulations 
among the bounties of creation, afford a Christian minister a most 
favorable opportunity for awakening in his parishioners a due sense 
of gratitude towards him who maketh the sun to shine, and the rains 
to descend upon the earth, so that it may bring forth its fruit in due 
season." 



ROGATION WEEK. 



163 



These perambulations occasionally took place on 
Ascension Day, — celebrated springs or fountains, in- 
stead of Gospel-trees, sometimes serving as stations. 
Aubrey says : — 

" In Cheshire when they went in perambulation, they did blesse 
the springs, i. e. they did read a Gospell at them, and did believe 
the water was the better." x 

An interesting account of such a ceremony as this 
in what is called " The Dressing of the Wells of Tiss- 
ington," is given by a correspondent of " Chambers' 
Book of Days " (page 596). This custom seems, from 
the parish record, to have originated in 161 5, a year 
of remarkable drought, when these wells furnished to 
the inhabitants and their cattle for ten miles round an 
unfailing supply of water, an element of which the 
English, in their moist climate, have seldom ex- 
perienced the want. 

" When we drove into the village, though it was only ten o'clock, 
we found it already full of people from many miles round, who had 
assembled to celebrate the feast ; for such indeed it was, all the 
characteristics of a village wake being there in the shape of booths, 
nuts, gingerbread, and toys, to delight the young. We went imme- 
diately to the church, foreseeing the difficulty there would be in 
getting a seat, nor were we mistaken, for though we were accommo- 
dated, numbers were obliged to remain outside, and wait for the 
service peculiar to the wells. The interior of the church is orna- 

1 We read that once in the wilderness, in a time of drought at Beer the 
promised well, Israel sang this song, " Spring up, O well ; sing ye unto it." — 
Num. xxi. 17. 



164 ROGATION WEEK. 

merited with many monuments of the Fitzherbert family, and the 
service was performed in rural style by a band of violinists who did 
their best to make melody. As soon as the sermon was ended, the 
clergyman left the pulpit, and marched at the head of the pro- 
cession that was formed, into the village. After him came the band ; 
then the family from the Hall, and then visitors, the rest of the 
congregation following ; and a halt was made at the first of the 
wells, which are five in number, and which we will now attempt to 
describe. 

" The name of ' well ' scarcely gives a proper idea of these beau- 
tiful structures ; they are rather fountains, or cascades, the water 
descending from above, and not rising, as in a well. Their height 
varies from ten to twelve feet ; and the original stone frontage is on 
this day hidden by a wooden erection in the form of an arch, or 
some other elegant design ; over these planks a layer of plaster of 
Paris is spread, and while it is wet, flowers without leaves are stuck 
in it, forming a most beautiful mosaic pattern On one the large 
yellow field Ranunculus was arranged in letters, and so a verse of 
Scripture, or of a hymn, was recalled to the spectator's mind ; on 
another, a white dove was sculptured in the plaster, and set in 
a groundwork of the humble violet ; the daisy, which our poet 
Chaucer would gaze upon for hours together, formed a diaper work 
of red and white ; the pale yellow primrose was set off by the rich 
red of the ribes ; nor were the coral berries of the holly, mountain- 
ash, and yew, forgotten ; these are carefully gathered and stored in 
the winter to be ready for the May-day fete. It is scarcely possible 
to describe the vivid coloring and beautiful effect of these favorites 
of nature, arranged in wreaths and garlands and devices of every 
hue. And then, the pure, sparkling water, which pours down from 
the midst of them unto the rustic moss-grown stones beneath, com- 
pletes the enchantment, and makes this feast of the ' well-flowering ' 
one of the most beautiful of all the old customs that are left in 
' Merrie England.' 

" The groups of visitors and country people, dressed in their hoi- 



ROGATION WEEK. 165 

iday clothes, stood reverently round, whilst the clergyman read the 
first of the three psalms appointed for the day, and then gave out 
one of Bishop Heber's beautiful hymns, in which all joined with 
heart and voice. 

" When this was all over, all moved forwards to the next well, 
where the next psalm was read, and another hymn sung ; the Epistle 
and Gospel being read at the last two wells. The service was now 
over, and the people dispersed to wander through the village or 
park, which is thrown open ; the cottagers vie with each other in 
showing hospitality to the strangers, and many kettles are boiled at 
their fires, for those who have brought the materials for a picnic on 
the green. It is welcomed as a season of mirth and good fellow- 
ship, many old friends meeting there to separate for another year, 
should they be spared to see the Well-dressing again, whilst the 
young people enjoy their games and country pastimes with their 
usual vivacity." 

The foregoing account might perhaps furnish us 
with a model, or hints, for similar excursions in the 
country. 

" Still, Dovedale, yield thy flowers to deck the fountains 

Of Tissington upon its holiday ; 
The customs long preserved among the mountains 

Should not be lightly left to pass away; 
They have their moral ; and we often may 

Learn from them how our wise forefathers wrought, 
When they upon the public mind would lay 

Some weighty principle, some maxim brought 
Home to their hearts, the healthful product of deep thought." — 

Edwards. 

The " Pall Mall Budget " of May 23, 1873, says : — 



1 66 ROGATION WEEK. 

" The town of Buxton last week was the scene of a gay festival, 
called the Buxton Well Dressing, which took place this year a 
month earlier than usual. The dressing of one of the wells was, it 
is stated, a work of art. A lofty arch in front of the well served as 
the framework of a picture, wrought in flowers, representing a 
shepherd and his flock. The shepherd's smock was formed of but- 
tercups, the sheep and lambs were made of daisies with pansies for 
the shades of color, and the ground was rendered in perfect imita- 
tion of nature with grasses and moss. The town also was deco- 
rated with flowers, and, except the cold east wind; there was no 
drawback to the success of the whole affair. It seems that this 
well dressing festival has of late years been substituted for races at 
Buxton as being more conducive to the general innocence of the 
inhabitants and visitors, and with the happiest result." 

With the view of restoring the Rogation days to 
their proper use as a season at which the Church be- 
seeches God to bless the coming seed-time and the 
labors of the husbandman, Bishop Cox, of Western 
New York, has recently set forth an especial service 
for these days ; and it has been suggested that others 
in authority should follow the example, for, if we give 
thanks for the fruits of the earth in autumn, why 
should we not, at the proper season, beseech God to 
bless the labors of the husbandman. 

Our New England forefathers observed a somewhat 
similar custom in their Spring Fast, although their 
Puritanical severity would not have permitted them to 
go "processioning." 



CHAPTER XV. 



WHITSUNTIDE. 




RE is 
some dispute 
among the 
learned as to the 
meaning of the 
word Whitsun; it 
is said by some 
to have been de- 
rived from the 
custom in the 
Primitive Church 
of the catechu- 
mens wearing 
white garments, 
or chrisoms, at 
this time, which was then observed as one of the 
two principal seasons of public baptism. Dr. Neale, 
however, thinks it curious " that the name Whitsun- 



HARLEt 



1 68 WHITSUNTIDE. 

day should be thus mistaken. It is neither White 
Sunday (for in truth the color is red), nor Huit 
Sunday, as the eighth after Easter ; but simply by the 
various corruptions of the German Pfingsten, the 
Dansk Pinste, the various patois Pings ten, Whingsten, 
etc., derived from Pentecost." In proof of the above, 
note that it is not Easter Sunday, but Easter Day, so 
it is not Whit Sunday but Whitsun Day ; and we 
speak of Whitsun Week, just as they do of Pflngsten 
Woche, in German. Whatever may have been the 
origin of the term, Whitsuntide has been from the 
earliest times observed in England, as in Germany, by 
the celebration of all sorts of outdoor sports and pas- 
times. It was at this season, also, that the Whitsun 
Ales were held — those " drinking assemblies " at 
which parishioners were expected to drink ale for the 
especial good of their souls ; when the church-wardens 
sold the ale to the populace, in the church-yard, and to 
the better sort, as it is said, even in the church itself, 
the profits being set apart (as in our modern fairs) for 
the repair or decoration of the church, and for the 
maintenance of the poor. On these occasions were 
witnessed those exhibitions of archery which once 
made Old England famous throughout all the world ; 
and also matches at running and wrestling, with other 
athletic sports. England, as Shakespeare says, was 
then — 

" Busied with a Whitsun morris-dance." 



WHITSUNTIDE. 1 69 

The mummers also appear again with — 

" Robin Hood and his merry men all," 

and St. George - — who at Christmas was but a carpet 
knight — now literally " takes the field," or rather to 
the field. Nor was music wanting on these occasions 
to enliven the sports ; for besides the bells of the mor- 
ris-dancers, there were the pipe and tabor in modern 
times, and the harp and viol in the days of more re- 
mote antiquity, according to an old ballad : — 

" Harke, harke, I heare the dancing, 
And a nimble morris-prancing * 
The bagpipe and the morris-bells, 
That they are not far hence us tells ; 
Come let us all goe thither, 
And dance like friends together." 

The morris-dance was an essential part of the Whit- 
sun Ale and May Games, and in some places it is still 
continued as a Whitsuntide amusement. A set con- 
sists of six or eight young men, one of whom repre- 
sents Maid Marian, and another personates the clown 
or fool, and the remainder are without their coats and 
waistcoats and in the cleanest and best shirts they can 
procure, gaily bedizened with pendant ribbons and 
rosettes of various colors. They often have as many 
as six rows of bells on their legs. The fool is variously 
but always grotesquely attired, and carries the usual 
badge in his hand — an inflated bladder filled with 
beans, which he rattles about to clear the way for their 



170 



WHITS UNTIDE. 



performances. Maid Marian carries a ladle in her 
hand with which she solicits money. " The dance con- 
sists of a variety of manoeuvres, rapid changes of pos- 
ture, striking first the toe and then the heel on the 
ground which occasions great jingling of the bells ; 
repeatedly clapping their hands, then their knees and 
each other's hands." 




It is to us in America an interesting fact, connected 
with these Whitsuntide observances, that the voyager 
Sir Humphrey Gilbert, in an expedition fitted out by 
him under royal commission, sailing from Dartmouth 
in June, 1583, and which planted the first English col- 
ony west of the Atlantic, " provided," says Mr. Hayes, 
the historian of the voyage, " for the solace of our own 
people, and the allurement of the savages, music in 
good variety, not omitting the least toys, as morris- 



WHITS UNTIDE. I 7 1 

dancers, hobby-horses, and May-like conceits to delight 
the savage people." 

But before proceeding with an account of the Whit- 
sun Ales, we propose to notice briefly a singular piece 
of ecclesiastical pageantry formerly connected in pop- 
ular estimation with the joyous celebration of Whit- 
suntide. 

Previous to the invention of printing, such religious 
shows were to the people very much what books and 
pictures are now. 

The machinery then used seems ludicrous to us with 
our superior advantages, but it by no means follows 
that it was so to them. 

Whitsuntide, it appears, was anciently distinguished 
by a singular display of fireworks of a peculiarly 
ecclesiastical character, calculated, as was supposed, to 
represent to the people the descent of the Holy Ghost 
on the Day of Pentecost. 

The " Bee-hive of the Romish Church," satirically 
speaking of these, says : — 

"They send downe a dove out of an owle's nest devised in the 
roof of the church ; but first they cast out rosin and gunpowder, 
with wild fire, to make the children afraid, and that must needs be 
the Holie Ghost which cometh with thunder and lightning." 

Perhaps Mr. Fosbrooke's account of this extraordi- 
nary spectacle will best exemplify the custom : — 

" This feast," says he, " was celebrated in Spain with representa- 
tions of the gift of the Holy Ghost, and of thunder from engines, 



1 7 2 WHITS UNTIDE. 

which did much damage. Wafers or cakes, preceded by water, 
oak-leaves, or burning torches, were thrown down from the church 
roof ; small birds with cakes tied to their legs, and pigeons were 
let loose j sometimes there were tame white ones tied with strings, 
or one of wood suspended. A long censer was also swung up and 
down." 

In the same learned author's " Encyclopaedia of 
Antiquities " we find also the following: — 

"In an old computus, Anno 1509, of St. Patrick's, Dublin, we 
have iv s vii d paid to those playing with the great and little angel 
and the dragon ; iii s paid for little cords employed about the Holy 
Ghost ; iv s vi d for making the angel (thurifurcantis) censing, and 
ii s ii d for cords of it — all on the Feast of Pentecost." 

Lambarde, when a child, saw a like show in St. 
Paul's Cathedral, London : — 

" The descent of the Holy Ghost was performed by a white 
pigeon being let fly out of a hole in the midst of the roof of the 
great aisle, with a long censer, which descending from the same 
place almost to the ground, was swung up and down at such a length, 
that it reached with one sweep almost to the west-gate of the Church, 
and with the other to the choir stairs, breathing out over the whole 
church and the assembled multitude a most pleasant perfume." 

Easter Ales and Whitsun Ales, so called from their 
being held on Easter Sunday and on Whitsunday, or 
on some of the holidays that follow them, originated 
from the wakes. These wakes were primitively held 
upon the day of the dedication of the church, or. on 
the birthday of the saint whose relics were therein de- 
posited, or to whose honor it was consecrated. The 



WHITS UNTIDE. 1 7 3 

generosity of the founder and endower thereof was at 
the same time celebrated, and a service composed suit- 
able to the occasion. This is still done in the Col- 
leges of Oxford, to the memory of the respective 
founders. On the eve of this day, prayers were said 
and hymns were sung all night in the church ; and 
from these watchings the festivals were styled " wakes ; " 
which name still continues in many parts of England, 
although the vigils have been long in disuse. 

These wakes when first established, it is said, greatly 
resembled the Agapae, or Love-Feasts, of the early 
Christians. In process of time, however, the people 
assembled on the vigil, or evening preceding the 
saint's day, and came, says a quaint old author, " to 
churche with candellys burnyng, and would wake, 
and come towards night to the churche in their de- 
vocion." 

The old author above quoted on the subject of 
these wakes, mentions certain scandalous excesses into 
which the people had gradually fallen, unmindful of an 
ancient canon which required that, " Those who came 
to the wake should pray devoutly and not betake them- 
selves to drunkenness and debauchery," — vices to which 
it seems our Anglo-Saxon forefathers were always too 
much inclined ; he says : " And afterwards the people 
fell to letcherie and songs, and daunces, with harping 
and piping, and also to glotony and sinne ; and so 
tourned the holyness to cursydness." 

Whatsoever truth there may have been in these 



1 74 WHITS UNTIDE. 

serious charges, it is certain that in proportion as 
these festivals deviated from the original design of 
their institution, they increased in popularity, the con- 
viviality was extended, and not only the inhabitants of 
the parish to which the church belonged were present 
at them, but they were joined by others from the 
neighboring towns and parishes. 

The church-wardens and other chief officers of the 
church, observing these wakes to be more popular 
than any other holidays, shrewdly conceived that by 
establishing other institutions somewhat similar to 
them, they might draw together a large company of 
people, and annually collect from them, gratuitously as 
it were, such sums of money for the support and 
repairs of the church, as would be a great easement 
to the parish rates. By way of enticement to the pop- 
ulace, they brewed a certain portion of strong ale, to 
be ready on the day appointed for the festival, which 
they sold to them ; and most of the better sort, in 
addition to what they paid for their drink, contributed 
something towards the collection ; but in some in- 
stances, the inhabitants of one or more parishes were 
mulcted in a certain sum, according to mutual agree- 
ment, as appears by an ancient stipulation couched in 
the following terms : — 

" " The parishioners of Elvertoon and those of Okebrook in Der- 
byshire, agree jointly to brew four ales, and every ale of one quarter 
of malt, between this and the Feast of St. John the Baptist next 



WHITS UNTIDE. I 75 

coming, and every inhabitant of the said town of Okebrook shall be 
at the several Ales ; and every husband and his wife shall pay two 
pence ; and every cottager one penny. And the inhabitants of 
Elvertoon shall have and receive all the profits coming of the said 
ales, to the use and behoof of the church of Elvertoon ; and the 
inhabitants of Elvertoon shall brew eight ales betwixt this and the 
Feast of St. John, at which ales the inhabitants of Okebrook shall 
come and pay as before rehearsed ; and if any be away one ale, he 
is to pay at t'oder ale for both." 

Stubbs, on the subject of these ales, says : — 

" In certain townes where drunken Bacchus bears sway, against 
Christmass and Easter, Whitsunday, or some other time, the church- 
wardens — for so they call them- — of every parish, with the consent 
of the whole parish, provide half a score or twentie quarters of 
mault, whereof some they buy of the church stocke, and some is 
given to them of the parishioners themselves, every one conferring 
somewhat, according to his ability ; which mault being made into 
very strong ale, or beer, is set to sale, either in the church, or in 
some other place assigned to that. Then, when this nippitatum, 
this huffe-cappe, as they call it, this nectar of life, is set abroach, 
well is he that can get the soonest to it, and spends the most at it, 
for he is counted the godliest man of all the rest, and most in God's 
favour, because it is spent upon his church forsooth ! If all be true 
which they say, they bestow that money which is got thereby, for 
the repair of their churches and chappels ; they buy books for the 
service, cupps for the celebration of the Sacrament, surplesses for 
Sir John (the parson), and such other necessaries, &c." 

In reading the above, some allowance should be 
made for the prejudices of Stubbs, who was one of 
those puritanical zealots whose reformatory labors in 
the succeeding century so disastrously ended in a 



1 76 WHITS UNTIDE. 

general subversion of all things both in Church and 
State. 

However, those more charitably disposed will much 
prefer the benevolent good humor of honest Old 
Aubrey, that eminent antiquary of the seventeenth 
century, whose character for veracity, it is said, has 
never been impeached : — 

" There were no rates for the poor in my grandfather's 'days, says 
he, but for Kingston St. Michael (no small parish) the church ale 
at Whitsuntide did the business. In every parish is, or was, a 
church-house, to which belonged spits, crocks, etc., utensils for 
dressing provisions. Here the housekeepers met and were merry, 
and gave their charity. The young people were there too, and had 
dancing, bowling, shooting at butts, etc. ; the ancients sitting gravely 
by and looking on. All things were civil and without scandal." 

At these Whitsun Ales there were chosen a Lord 
and Lady of Yule, or Ale King and Queen, who were 
attended by a steward, sword-bearer, purse-bearer, and 
mace-bearer, with their several badges or ensigns of 
office. They had, besides, a page or train-bearer, and a 
jester dressed in a parti-colored jacket; and with this 
mock court, they maintained such state and ceremony 
as their means would permit, presiding over the sports 
and pastimes of the festival. Sometimes they held this 
court of theirs in an extensive empty barn or other 
building suitable for the purpose, extemporized for 
the occasion into something like an ancient baronial 
hall. 



WHITS UNTIDE. I 7 7 

" The last rural queen of this description," says the " Lancashire 
Folk Lore," " chosen at Downham, is still living (1867) in Burnley. 
The lot always fell on these occasions, it is said, to the prettiest 
girl in the village. A committee of young men made the selection ; 
then it appears an iron crown was procured and dressed with flow- 
ers. The King and Queen were ornamented with flowers, a pro- 
cession was then formed, headed by a fiddler. This proceeded from 
the inn to the front of ' Squire Asheton's,' Downham Hall, and was 
composed of javelin men, and all the attendants of royalty. Chairs 
were brought out of the hall for the King and Queen, ale was 
handed round, and then a dance was performed on the lawn, the 
King and Queen leading off. The procession next passed along 
through the village to the green, where seats were provided for a 
considerable company. Here again the dancing began, the King 
and Queen dancing the first set. The afternoon was spent in the 
usual games, dances, etc. On the next night all the young people 
met at the inn on invitation from the King and Queen ; each paid 
a shilling towards the l Queen's Posset.' A large posset was then 
made and handed round to the company. After this, the evening 
was spent in dancing and merry-making." 

At this season, festivals similar to the above, are still 
observed in Germany, where it is said: 1 — 

" In the country, and among the peasantry everywhere, they 
dance around the May -pole at Whitsuntide, as in England, and 
maidens awake in the morning to find their windows and doors 
hung with wreaths of evergreen and flowers, signs of their lovers' 
truth. Not one but many poles may be seen in every village, 
dressed from top to bottom, and also little arbors in front of every 
door, called lovers' bowers, in which they sit and sing, or dance and 
play. They seek everywhere for this occasion, birchen boughs, and 

1 Peasant Life in Germany. 



I 7 8 WHITS UNTIDE. 

if the festival comes and the leaves of the birch are not yet green, 
there is great lamentation, and if there is only the slightest appear- 
ance of green upon the twigs, they are preferred to all other trees of 
the forest to hang over the windows and adorn their rooms." 

In the rural districts of England, Whitsuntide still 
continues to be one of the most joyous seasons through- 
out the year, being chosen for the anniversary of the 
Clubs and Friendly Societies. Nothing can be more 
lively and exhilarating than the processioning at these 
club-holidays ; all the attendants dressed in their best, 
music playing, flags flying, the church bells joining 
their merry peal, and the whole population of the vil- 
lage coming forth to gaze on the enlivening scene. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



MAY-DAY. 




May- 
day cus- 
toms are 
supposed 
by some antiquarians to 
have been derived from 
the Roman F 1 o r a 1 i a, 
which began on the 
twenty-eighth of April, 
and continued through 
several days in May. 
This festival appears to 
have been instituted 
about 242 b. c. in honor 
of a celebrated courte- 
zan named Flora, who 
bequeathed her fortune 
to the people of Rome 
on condition that at 
this season, they should 



180 MAY-DAY. 

yearly celebrate her memory. Soon after, the Senate 
of Rome exalted Flora to be the goddess of flowers, 
and from that time her festival was observed with va- 
rious ceremonies, rejoicings, and offering of spring 
flowers and branches of trees in bloom. 

But Mr. Soane and others maintain that the May- 
day festival has come down to us from the Druids, 
and that this is proved by many striking facts and co- 
incidences, and by none more so than by the vestiges 
of the worship of the god Bel, the Apollo or Orus of 
other nations. The Druids celebrated his worship on 
the first of May, by lighting in honor of him, immense 
fires upon the various cairns. 

Whether the May-day festival be of Druidical or of 
Roman origin, or as Toilet imagines, derived from our 
Gothic ancestors, who also welcomed the First of May 
with songs and dances, and many rustic sports, appears 
to be yet undetermined. Indeed, it has been main- 
tained that its origin is to be sought in far more remote 
periods. Maurice says that it is identical with the 
Phallic festivals of India and Egypt, which in those 
countries took place upon the sun entering Taurus, to 
celebrate Nature's renewed fertility. 

At any rate, whatever may have been the heathenish 
origin of these May-games, the May-pole had become 
so firmly rooted in the soil of Merry England long be- 
fore the time of Charles I., and had been, as was, 
believed, so thoroughly divested of all its ancient idola- 
trous associations as to be thought worthy even of 



MAY-DAY. 181 

royal and episcopal commendation ; its harmless ob- 
servances being enjoined by the highest ecclesiastical 
authorities : — 

" Our express pleasure therefore is," says King Charles I. (in the 
" Book of Sports "), " that after the end of Divine Service, our good 
people be not disturbed, letted, or discouraged from any lawful 
recreation, such as dancing, either men or women, archery for men, 
leaping, vaulting, or any other such harmless recreation ; nor from 
having of May Games, Whitsun Ales, and Morris-dances, and the 
setting up of May-poles, and other sports therewith used, so as the 
same be had in due and convenient time, without impediment or 
neglect of Divine Service." 

But whatever may have been the relish with which 
high church divines read forth to their people from the 
sacred desk these royal injunctions ; and however 
much their observance may have been associated with 
the sentiments of religion and loyalty ; still their cele- 
bration, it is well known, gave great offense to that part 
of their congregations who felt scruples of " conscience" 
in regard to the use of these games. For in the eyes 
of our Puritan forefathers, they were simply " heathen 
abominations." Thus, in response to the King's decla- 
ration in the " Book of Sports," we find the.jdefiant 
puritanical Parliament of 1643 enacting as follows : — 

" And because the profanation of the Lord's Day hath been 
heretofore greatly occasioned by May-poles (a heathenish vanity, 
generally abused to superstition and wickedness), the Lords and 
Commons do further order and ordain, that all and singular May- 
poles, that are or shall be erected, shall be taken down and removed 



1 82 MAY-DAY. 

by the constables, borsholders, tythingmen, petty-constables, and 
church-wardens of the parishes where the same be ; and that no 
May-pole shall be hereafter set up, erected or suffered to be, within 
this Kingdom of England, or Dominion of Wales." 

In 1 66 1, Thomas Hall, the celebrated non-con- 
formist divine, in his " Funebria Florae, or Downfall 
of May-Games," in a solemn arraignment, brings in 
twenty arguments in the form of theses against poor 
Flora, with a brief dissertation upon each, and ends by 
trying her before a packed jury of his own Puritans, 
who, as a matter of course, bring her in guilty, when 
the parson, as judge, thus pronounces sentence : — 

" Flora, thou hast been indicted, by the name of Flora, for bring- 
ing in abundance of misrule and disorder into Church and State ; 
thou hast been found guilty, and art condemned both by God and 
man, by Scriptures, fathers, councils, by learned and pious divines, 
both old and new, and therefore I adjudge thee to perpetual ban- 
ishment." 

Old Stubbs, also, as usual, is extremely eloquent on 
this subject : — 

"Against Maie Whitsondaie, or some other tyme of the yeare, 
every parishe, toune or village, assemble themselves together, bothe 
men women and children, olde and young, even all indifferently • 
and either goyng altogether, or devyding themselves into companies, 
they goe some to the woods and groves, &c, some to the hilles and 
mountaines, some to one place, some to an other, where they spende 
all' the night in pleasant pastymes ; and in the mornyng they 
returne, bringing with them birch boughs and braunches of trees to 
deck their assemblies withall. And no marvaile ; for there is a 



MAY-DAY. 183 

great lord present amongst them as superintendent and lorde over 
their pastymes and sportes ; namely, Sathan, prince of Hell. But 
their chiefest Jewell they bring from thence is their Maie-fiole, which 
they bring home with great veneration, as thus : they have twentie 
or fourtie yoke of oxen, every oxe havying a swete nosegaie of 
flowers tyed on the tippe of his homes, and these oxen drawe home 
this Maie-pole — this stinking idoll rather — which is covered all 
over with flowers and herbes bounde rounde aboute with stringes, 
from the top to the bottome, and sometyme painted with variable 
colours (black and yellow), with twoo or three hundred men women 
and children followyng it with great devotion. And this beyng 
reared up, with handkerchiefes and flagges streamyng on the toppe, 
they strawe the grounde aboute, beside green boughes aboute it ; set 
up summer haulles, bowers and arbours hard by it, and then fall 
they to banquet and feast, to leap and daunce about it, as the 
heathen people did at the dedication of their idolles, whereof this is 
a proper patterne, or rayther the thynge itself." 

It is curious enough to contrast the effusions of this 
rabid fanatic, with the pleasing picture of the same 
custom left to us by Stowe : — 

" In the moneth of May," says the cheerful old man, " namely on 
May-day in the morning, every man, except impediment, would walk 
into the sweete meadows and green woods, there to rejoyce their 
spirites, with the beauty and savour of sweete flowers, and with the 
harmony of birds praysing God in their kind \ and for example 
hereof Edward Hall hath noted that K. Henry the Eight, as in the 
3 of his reigne and divers other years, so namely on the seventh of 
his reigne on May-day in the morning with Queene Katheren his 
wife, accompanied with many Lords and Ladies, rode a Maying 
from Greenwitch to the high ground of Shooter's hill, where as 
they passed by the way, they espied a company of tall yeomen 
clothed all in Greene, with greene whoodes and with bowes and 



1 84 MAY-DAY. 

arrowes to the number of 200. One being their chieftaine was called 
Robin Hoode, who required the king and his companie to stay and 
see his men shoote, whereunto the king graunting, Robin Hoode 
whistled, and all the 200 archers shot off, losing all at once ; and 
when he whistled againe, they likewise shot againe ; their arrowes 
whistled by craft of the head, so that the noyse was strange and 
loude, which greatly delighted the king, queene and their com- 
panie. Moreover, this Robin Hoode desired the king and queene, 
with their retinue, to enter the greene wood, where, in harbours 
made of boughes and decked with flowers, they were set and served 
plentifully with venison and wine by Robin Hoode and his meynie, 
to their great contentment, and had other pageants and pastimes." 

" I find also, that in the moneth of May, the citizens of London, 
of all estates, lightly in every parish, or sometimes two or three par- 
ishes joyning togither, had their several Mayings, and did fetch in 
May-poles, with divers warlike shewes, with good archers, morice- 
dauncers, and other devices, for pastime all the day long, and 
towards the evening they had stage playes and bonefires in the 
streetes. Of these Mayings we reade, in the raigne of Henry the 
Sixt, that the aldermen and shiriffes of London being, on May-day, 
at the Bishop of London's wood, in the parish of Stebunheath, and 
having there a worshipfull dinner for themselves and other com- 
mers, Lydgate the poet, that was a monk of Bury, sent to them by a 
pursivant a joy full commendation of that season, containing sixteen 
staves in meter royall, beginning thus : — 

" Mightie Flora, goddesse of fresh bowers, 

Which clothed hath the soyle in lustie greene, 
Made buds spring, with her sweete showers, 
By influence of the sunny-shien." 

The custom of gathering May-dew survived until 
the end of the seventeenth century : — " young ladies 
and even grave matrons, repaired to the fields to 
gather May-dew with which to beautify their com- 



MAY-DAY. 185 

plexions ; milkmaids also danced in the streets with 
their pails wreathed with garlands, and a fiddler going 
before them." 

A hundred years ago " the milk-maids' garland was 
a pyramidal frame, covered with damask, glittering on 
each side with [borrowed] polished silver plate, and 
adorned with knots of gay-coloured ribbons and posies 
of fresh flowers, surmounted with a silver urn or tank- 
ard. It was placed on a wooden horse, and carried by 
two men, preceded by a pipe and tabor or a fiddle." 

A good idea of the hilarity of the occasion may be 
gathered from a curious old ballad in the " Westmin- 
ster Drollery," called the " Rural Dance about the May- 
pole: " — 

" Come lasses and lads, take leave of your dads, 

And away to the May-pole hie; 
For every he has got him a she, 

And the minstrel is standing by ; 
For Willy has gotten his Jill, and Johnny has got his Joan, 
To jig it, jig it, jig it, jig it up and down. 

" ' Strike up,' says Wat. ' Agreed,' says Kate, 
And, ' I prithee, fiddler, play ; ' 
' Content,' says Hodge, and so says Madge, 
' For this is a holiday ! ' 
Then every man did put his hat off to. his lass, 
And every girl did curchy, curchy, curchy on the grass. 

" ' Begin,' says Hall. ' Aye, aye,' says Mall, 
'We'll lead up Packington's Pound: 
' No, no,' says Noll ; and so says Doll, 



1 86 MAY-DAY. 

1 We'll first have Sellenger^s Round' 
Then every man began to foot it round about, 
And every. girl did jet it, jet it, jet it in and out. 

" ' You're out,' says Dick. ' 'Tis a lie,' says Nick ; 
' The fiddler played it false ; ' 
' 'Tis true,' says Hugh ; and so says Sue, 
And so says nimble Alse. 
The fiddler then began to play the tune again, 
And every girl did trip it, trip it, trip it to the men." 

The morris-dance, the peculiar sport and pastime of 
May-day and Whitsuntide, is generally supposed to 
be of Moorish origin, derived from Spain. Hence its 
name. In confirmation of this opinion, we are told by 
Junius, that at one time the dancers blackened their 
faces to resemble Moors. Strutt, indeed, thinks differ- 
ently ; but his arguments, which are not very strong 
in themselves, seem to be altogether set aside by the 
fact of the word morris being applied in the same way 
by other nations to express a dance, that both English 
and foreign glossaries alike ascribe to the Moors. 
That the dance is not exactly the same as the fan- 
dango, the real Morisco, can by no means be con- 
sidered as invalidating this argument, for similar devi- 
ations from originals have taken place in other bor- 
rowed amusements. 

From whatever source the morris-dance may have 
been derived, it would seem to have been first brought 
into England about the time of Edward III., when 
John of Gaunt returned from Spain. It was certainly 



MAY-DAY. 187 

popular in France, as early as the fifteenth century, 
under the name of Morisque, which is an intermediate 
step between the Spanish Morisco and the English 
morris. There does not appear to be any mention of 
this dance by English writers or records before the 
sixteenth century; but then, and especially in the 
writers of the Shakespearean age, the allusions to it 
become very numerous. It was probably introduced 
into England by dancers both from Spain and France ; 
for in the earlier allusions to it in English, it is some- 
times called the Morisco and sometimes the Morisce 
or Morisk. 

Tabourot, the oldest and most curious writer on the 
art of dancing, says, that in his youthful days, about 
the beginning of the sixteenth century, it was the cus- 
tom in good society for a boy to come into the hall 
when supper was finished, with his face blackened, his 
forehead bound with white or yellow taffeta, and bells 
tied to his legs. He then proceeded to dance the 
Morisco, the whole length of the hall backward and 
forward, to the great amusement of the company. 
This was the ancient and uncorrupted morris-dance. 

In England, however, it seems to have been very 
soon united with an older pageant-dance, performed at 
certain periods in honor of Robin Hood and his out- 
laws ; and thus a morris-dance consisted of a certain 
number of characters limited at one time to five, but 
varying considerably at different periods. 

There was preserved in an ancient mansion at Bet- 



1 88 MAY-DAY. 

ley, in Staffordshire, some years ago, and it may exist 
there still, a painted glass window of apparently the 
reign of Henry VIII., representing in its different 
compartments the several characters of the morris- 
dance. George Tollett, Esq., who possessed the man- 
sion at the beginning of this century, and who was 
a friend of the Shakespearean critic Malone, gave a 
lengthy dissertation on this window, with an engraving. 
Maid Marian, the Queen of May, is there dressed in a 
rich costume of the period referred to, with a golden 
crown on her head, and a red pink in her left hand, 
supposed to be intended as the emblem of Summer : — 

" This Queen of May is supposed to represent the goddess Flora 
of the Roman festival ; Robin Hood appears as the lover of the 
Maid Marian. An ecclesiastic also appears among the characters 
in the window, in the full clerical tonsure, with a chaplet of red and 
white beads in his right hand ; his corded girdle and his russet 
habit denoting him to be of the Franciscan order, or one of the 
Gray Friars ; his stockings are red ; his red girdle is ornamented 
with a golden twist and with a golden tassel." 

This is supposed to be Friar Tuck, a well-known 
character of the Robin Hood ballads. The Fool, 
with his cock's comb and bauble, also takes his place 
in the figures in the window; neither is the taborer 
wanting with his tabor and pipe, " nor has the hobby- 
horse been forgot." l 

1 At Banbury there is annually exhibited a pageant, in which a fine lady on a 
white horse, preceded by Robin Hood and Little John, Friar Tuck, a company of 
archers, bands of music, flags and banners, passes through the principal street to 



MAY-DAY. 189 

We may infer from the extraordinary longevity of 
those skilled in the morris-dances, that the exercise 
was conducive to the health of the body at least, if not 
equally so to that of the soul ; the believers in " mus- 
cular Christianity," however, may reasonably doubt 
whether what was so good for the body, could be after 
all, as the Puritans maintained it was, so very bad for 
the soul. 

Sir William Temple thus mentions a morris-dance 
which took place in Herefordshire, in King James' 
time : — 

" There went about the country a sett of Morrice dancers, com- 
posed of ten men, who danced a Maid Marrian, and a tabor and 
pipe ; these ten, one with one another made up twelve hundred years. 
Tis not so much that so many in one country should live to that 
age, as that they should be in vigor and humour to travel and 
dance." 

About a century ago, also, a famous May-game or 
morris-dance, was performed by eight men in the same 
county, whose ages computed together amounted to 
eight hundred years. 

Brady, in his " Clavis Calendaria," published in Lon- 
don in 181 2, says of "the May Pole, that it is still re- 
tained in most of our villages," and that, " the May- 

the Cross, where the lady (Maid Marian) scatters Banbury cakes among the 
people. This Cross, so celebrated in the nursery hymn, "Ride a cock horse to 
Banbury Cross," pulled down by the Puritans in the reign of Elizabeth, has 
recently been rebuilt by the Banburians, to commemorate the marriage of the 
Princess Royal with the Crown Prince of Prussia. 



Tgo MAY-DAY. 

games were also once so general in England, that even 
the priests, 1 joining with the people, used to go in pro- 
cession to some adjoining wood on the May morning, 
and return in triumph with the much prized pole, 
adorned with boughs, flowers, and other tokens of the 
Spring season." 

" Happy the age, and harmless were the clays 
(For then true love and amity was found), 
When every village did a May-pole raise, 
And Whitsun Ales and May-games did abound ; 
And all the lusty yonkers, in a rout, 
With merry lasses daunc'd the rod about ; 
Then Friendship to their banquets bid the guests, 
And poore men far'd the better for their feasts. 

" The lords of castles, mannors, towns, and towers, 
Rejoic'd when they beheld the farmers flourish, 
And would come downe unto the summer bowers, 
To see the country gallants daunce the morrice." 

The May-pole, once fixed, remained until the end of 
the year, and was resorted to at all other seasons of 
festivity, as well as during May. Hence the general 
term of " May-games," to which reference is made in 
the " Book of Sports " and other contemporaneous writ- 
ings. Some of these poles, made of wood of a more 
durable nature, remained for years, being merely 

- x Dr. Parr was a great patron of May-day festivities. Opposite his parsonage 
house at Watton near Warwick, stood the parish May-pole, which was annually 
dressed with garlands, and the doctor himself danced with his parishioners 
around the shaft. 



MAY-DAY. 191 

freshly ornamented instead of being removed, as was 
the common practice. The last of such permanent 
May-poles in London was taken down in 171 7, and 
conveyed to Wanstead, in Essex, where it was fixed in 
the park for the support of an immensely large tel- 
escope. Its original height was upward of one hun- 
dred feet above the surface of the ground, and its 
station on the east side of Somerset House has been 
thus commemorated by Pope: — 

" Amidst the area wide they took their stand, 
Where the tall May-pole once o'erlook'd the Strand." 

The May-pole in later times in this country, appears 
to have been transformed into the Liberty-pole. 

The third canto of Trumbull's " McFingal " is 
called the " Liberty-Pole." When the hero caught 
sight of it and the crowd around it, he exclaimed : — 

" What mad-brained rebel gave commission 
To raise this May -pole of sedition." 

We may infer from the above that Trumbull 
thought that the May-pole, around which in Eng- 
land young people had joyful gatherings, suggested 
our Liberty-pole first raised in New York, in 1 766, and 
which has been erected in all parts of this country as a 
rallying point for public meetings and Fourth of July 
celebrations. 

Another May-day custom worthy of notice, is still 



192 MAY-DAY. 

kept up at Oxford. On the top of the magnificent 
tower of Magdalen College, an anthem is sung at 
sunrise every May morning. The choristers and sing- 
ing men of the College Chapel in their surplices, 
assemble there a little before five o'clock, and as 
soon as the clock has struck, commence singing their 
matins. 

The college, it appears, holds certain land on con- 
dition of the annual performance of this ceremony, 
which, by the way, is said to be a substitute for a mass 
or requiem, which before the Reformation used to be 
annually sung in the same exalted position, for the rest 
of the soul of Henry VII. the founder of the college. 
The beautiful bridge, and all around the college, is 
covered with spectators, the inhabitants of the city as 
well as the neighboring villages collecting together, 
some on foot, and some in carriages, to hear the choir, 
and welcome in the happy day. The effect of the 
singing is said to be sweet and solemn, and almost 
supernatural, and during its celebration the most pro- 
found stillness reigns over the assembled numbers ; all 
seem impressed with the angelic softness of the float- 
ing sounds, as they are gently wafted down by each 
breath of air. All is hushed and calm and quiet — 
even breathing is almost forgotten, and all seem lost 
even to themselves, until with the first peal of the 
bells (of which there are ten) the spell is broken, and 
noise and confusion usurp the place of silence and 
quiet. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



ST. JOHN S, OR MIDSUMMER S EVE. 




HE history 
of the 
Holidays 
would be in- 
complete without 
a brief account of 
those brilliant festiv- 
ities celebrated in days 
of yore on St. John's, 
or Midsummer's Eve. 
The festival of the 
Baptist has been from 
the earliest time one 
of the most popular 
of holidays. 

The observances 
connected with the 
Nativity of St. John commenced on the previous even- 
ing, called as usual the Eve, or Vigil of the festival, or 
Midsummer Eve. 



13 



194 ST. JOHN'S, OR MIDSUMMER'S EVE. 

At this time people were accustomed to go into the 
woods and break down branches of trees, which they 
brought to their homes and planted over their doors, 
making therewith their " housis gay into remembrance 
of St. John the Baptist, and of this that was proph- 
ecied of him, that manye schoulden joy in his burthe." 

This custom was universal in England till the recent 
change in manners. In Oxford there was a specialty 
in the observance, of a curious nature. Within the- 
first court of Magdalen College, from a stone pulpit at 
a corner, a sermon used to be preached on St. John's 
Day ; at the same time the court was embowered with 
green boughs and flowers, that the preaching might 
resemble that of the Baptist in the wilderness. 

It appears from the records of the college that pay- 
ment for these decorations was made for the last time 
in the year 1766, for the old custom of preaching an 
annual sermon from the stone pulpit in the quadrangle 
was then transferred to the chapel, "for fear," says 
Whitefield, " it may be they should give further sanc- 
tion to field preaching," which the Methodists had at 
that time already begun. 

The Nativity of St. John the Baptist occurring at 
the summer solstice, the holiday observances peculiar to 
the season naturally became mixed up with those of the 
more primitive festival. 1 

J " The Pagan rites of this festival at the summer solstice may be considered as 

a counterpart of those used at the winter solstice at Yule-tide In the old 

Runic Fasti, a wheel was used to denote the festival of Christmas This 

wheel is common to both festivities." — Brand. 



ST. JOHN'S, OR MIDSUMMER'S EVE. 1 95 

Among these customs that of lighting fires on Mid- 
summer Eve is the most ancient and widely spread. 
In early times these were kindled on eminences marked 
by heaps of stone or carries consecrated to the worship 
of Baal the Sun-god. 

Gebelin, a learned historian and antiquary, in his 
" Allegories Orientales," says that "the St. John Fires" 
were kindled about midnight on the very moment of 
the solstice by the greater part as well of ancient as of 
modern nations ; it was a religious ceremony of the 
most remote antiquity, which was observed for the pros- 
perity of states and people, and to dispel every kind of 
evil ! " The origin of this fire, which is still retained by 
so many nations, though enveloped in the mist of an- 
tiquity, is very simple : it was a Feu de Joie, kindled 
the very moment the year began, for the first of all 
years, and the most ancient that we know of, began at 
this month of June. Thence the very name of this 
month, junior, the youngest, which is renewed ; while 
that of the preceding one is May, major, the ancient. 
Thus the one was the month of young people, while 
the other belonged to old men. These Feux de Joie 
were accompanied at the same time with vows and sac- 
rifices for the prosperity of the people and the fruits of 
the earth. They danced also round this fire (for what 
feast is there without a dance ? ) and the most active 
leaped over it. Each on departing took away a fire- 
brand, great or small, and the remains were scattered 
to the wind, which at the same time that it dispersed 



196 .ST. JOHN'S, OR MIDSUMMER'S EVE. 

the ashes, was thought to expel every evil." These 
bon-fires or bone fires, as they were generally called, 
were formerly believed to be a potent antidote against 
evil spirits. The old Homily " De Fes to Sancti Johan- 
riis Baptistce " says : " Wyse clerkes knoweth well that 
dragons hate nothyng more than the stenche of bren- 
nynge bones, and therefore they gaderyd as many as 
they might fynde and brent them ; and so with the 
stenche thereof they drove away the dragons, and so 
they were brought out of greete dysease." 

The custom of lighting fires on St. John's Eve was 
commonly observed in Ireland until a very recent 
period. A writer in the " Gentleman's Magazine " for 
February, 1795, observes: — 

" I was so fortunate in the summer of 1782, as to have my curi- 
osity gratified by the sight of this ceremony to a very great extent 
of country. At the house where I was entertained, it was told me 
that we should see at midnight the most singular sight in Ireland, 
which was the lighting of fires in honour of the sun. Accordingly, 
exactly at midnight, the fires began to appear ; and taking the ad- 
vantage of going up to the leads of the house, I saw on a radius of 
thirty miles, all around, the fires burning on every eminence which 
the country afforded. I had a farther satisfaction in learning from 
undoubted authority, that the people danced round the fires, and at 
the close went through these fires, and made their sons and daugh- 
ters, together with their cattle pass through the fire ; and the whole 
was conducted with religious solemnity." 

A kindred custom peculiar to this season was that 
of keeping a watch during the Midsummer Night, al- 
though no such practice might prevail at the place 



ST. JOHN'S, OR MIDSUMMER'S EVE. 1 97 

from mere motives of precaution. This custom was 
observed at Nottingham, as late as the reign of 
Charles I. Every citizen either went himself or sent 
a substitute, and an oath for preservation of peace was 
duly administered to the company at their first meet- 
ing at sunset. They paraded the town in parties dur- 
ing the night, every person wearing a garland of flow- 
ers upon his head, additionally embellished, in some 
instances, with ribbons and jewels. " This custom of 
wearing floral crowns appears to have been very gen- 
eral in old times, not only on St. John's Day, but also 
on other festive occasions." 

Polydore Virgil says, that in England they not only 
decorated the church with flowers, but the priests, 
crowned with flowers, performed the service on certain 
high days, more especially at St. Paul's Cathedral in 
London, on the feast day of the patron Saint. 

Stow records that in his time the ritualistic dean 
and chapter of that cathedral on St. Paul's Day, were 
" appareled in copes and vestments with garlands of 
roses on their heads." 

" A probable relic of this custom may be traced in the fact that 
the judges, the Lord Mayor, the aldermen, sheriffs, and common 
councillors, when they attend service in great state at the cathedral 
on the Sunday after Easter, and on Trinity Sunday, with many of 
the clergy, carry each of them a boquet of flowers in their hands." 

In London, on St. John's Eve, or Midsummer Night, 
the people illuminated their houses with clusters of 



I9 8 ST. JOHN'S, OR MIDSUMMER'S EVE. 

lamps, and performed the ceremony of setting the city 
watch with great show and splendor. The watchmen 
were clothed for the occasion in bright harness ; the 
Lord Mayor, the city officers, and a crowd of minstrels, 
henchmen, giants, pageants, and morris-dancers, formed 
part of the procession, over which a flood of light was 
poured from hundreds of blazing cressets and huge 
torches carried upon men's shoulders. 

This general illumination and rejoicing doubtless 
had some reference to the Baptist ; the illumination 
and festivity being suggested by the text, " He was a 
burning and a shining light; and ye were willing for 
a season to rejoice in his light." (John v. 35.) 

Pageants of all kinds were very popular at this time 
in different towns, and in none more so than in the 
ancient city of Chester, where the Whitsuntide festiv- 
ities seem to have embraced those of the proximate 
red-letter Day of St. John the Baptist. In the 24th 
Henry VIII. there was issued a proclamation made by 
William Nowall, clerk of the pendice, setting forth 
that : — 

" In ould tyme not only for the augmentacyon and increes of the 
holy and catholick faith, and to exhort the minds of common people 
to good devotion and wholesome doctrine, but also for the common- 
weal the and prosperity of this citty (Chester), a play and declaracyon 
of divers stories of the Bible, beginning with the creation and fall 
of -Lucifer, and ending with the generall judgment of the world, to 
be declared and played openly in pageants in the Whitsonne weeke, 
was devised and made by Sir Henry Francis, somtyme mooncke 



ST. JOHN'S, OR MIDSUMMER'S EVE. 199 

there ; who gat of Clement then bushop of Rome, icoo days of 
pardon, and of the bushop of Chester at that tyme 40 days of 
pardon, to every person resorting in peaceable manner to see and 
heare the said plays ; which were, to the honor of God, by John 
Arnway, then Mayor of Chester, his brethren, and the whole com- 
inalty thereof, to be brought forth declared and played at the coste 
and charges of the craftsmen and occupacyons of the said city," 
etc. 

All who disturbed them were to be accursed of the 
Pope till he absolved them. 

The setting of the " watch " on St. John's Eve at 
Chester, appears to have been a very showy exhibi- 
tion, which at one time was greatly objected to on the 
alleged score of immorality ; but this objection was 
overruled by the anti-puritanical authorities of Queen 
Elizabeth's time : " Four giants, one unicorn, one 
dromedary, one luce, one camel, one ass, one dragon, six 
hobby-horses, and sixteen naked boys," were included 
in the pageants. At this time (1564) it appears that 
such quantities of pasteboard cloth and other mate- 
rials were required for building up the giants to a 
proper size, that these alone cost five pounds a head, 
equal to three times that amount at the present day. 
Another of the items is still more curious : " Two 
shillings' worth of arsenic " had to be mixed with the 
paste to save the giants from being devoured by the 
rats. 

Strutt remarks that pageants, though commonly 
exhibited in the great towns and cities of England on 



200 ST. JOHN'S, OR MIDSUMMER'S EVE. 

solemn and joyous occasions, were more frequent in 
London than elsewhere on account of its being the 
theatre for the entertainment of foreign monarchs, and 
for the procession of the kings and queens to theii 
coronation. At the coronation of Queen Elizabeth 
on Sunday, January 15th, 1559, her progress was 
marked by superb pageants. On her arrival at Tem- 
ple Bar, Gog and Magog, 1 two giants, those famous 
worthies of Guildhall memory, were seen holding 
above the gate a table, wherein was written in Latin 
verse the effect of all the pageants which the city 
before had erected. 

The most popular part of these shows was the figures 
of the giants and dragons, which down even to a very 
recent period were carried about in the civic proces- 
sions both in England and on the Continent. 

In some places these shows were condemned by the 
ecclesiastical authorities as opposed to the spirit of 
Christianity, being, according to the mandate of the 
Archbishop of Arras (1699), "only fit to provoke the 

1 The two " terrible " giants, Gog and Magog, " had the honor yearly to grace 
my Lord Mayor's show, being carried in great triumph in the time of the pageants, 
and when that eminent annual service was over, remounted their old stations in 
Guildhall, till by reason of their very great age, old time, with the help of a numbei 
of city rats and mice had eaten up all their entrails. The dissolution of the two 
old weak and feeble giants gave birth to the two present substantial and majestic 
giants ; who by order, and at the city charge, were formed and fashioned. .... 
and were immediately advanced to their lofty stations in Guildhall, which they 
have peaceably enjoyed ever since the year 1708. — " Gog and Magog" Fairholt. 

" Some few modern attempts have been made to resuscitate the old pageants. 
In 1837, two colossal figures of the Guildhall Giants walked in the procession." 



ST. JOHN'S, OR MIDSUMMER'S EVE. 201 

wrath of God," and yet they seem once to have had a 
religious signification, the giants and dragons typify- 
ing the powers of earth and hell, subjugated and 
chained to the chariot wheels of triumphant Chris- 
tianity. 

In England, in the time of the Commonwealth, the 
giants together with the images of the beasts exhibited 
were destroyed, but at the Restoration of Charles the 
Second it was agreed by the citizens to replace the 
pageant as usual on the Eve of St. John the Baptist. 

At this season of public rejoicing the fronts of 
houses in the streets through which the processions 
passed were covered with rich adornments of tapestry, 
arras, and cloth of gold; the chief magistrates and 
most opulent citizens usually appeared on horseback 
in sumptuous habits, and joined the cavalcade, while 
the ringing of bells, the sound of music from various 
quarters, and the shouts of the populace, nearly 
stunned the ears of the spectators. 

The encouragement that literature and the Greek 
language received from Queen Elizabeth, created a 
fashion for classical allusions upon every conven- 
ient occasion, and the Queen's admiration of this 
kind of compliment, caused the mythology of ancient 
learning to be introduced into the various shows and 
spectacles in her honor. Wharton says, that when she 
paraded through a country town, almost every pageant 
was a pantheon. When she paid a visit at the house 
of any of her nobility, on entering the hall she was 



202 ST. JOHN'S, OR MIDSUMMER'S EVE. 

saluted by the Penates, and conducted to her privy- 
chamber by Mercury : in the afternoon, when she con- 
descended to walk in the garden, the lake was covered 
with tritons and nereids ; the pages of the family were 
converted into wood-nymphs, who passed from every 
bower ; and the footmen gamboled over the lawn in 
the figure of satyrs. 

To conclude this subject we give a very graphic and 
characteristic description, by a poet of the seventeenth 
century (1616), of a London marching watch on St. 
John's Eve. There is something grand and sublime 
in the idea of thus heralding in, as it were, the 
Nativity of the Baptist, at whose birth it was said 
"many shall rejoice," and who was the destined fore- 
runner of Him " whose goings forth have been of old," 
and whose kingdom was to be " an everlasting king- 
dom, that all people, nations, and languages should 
serve him : " — 

" The wakeful shepherd by his flock in field, 
With wonder at that time far off beheld 
The wanton shine of thy triumphant fiers, 
Playing upon the tops of thy tall spiers : 
Thy goodly buildings, that till then did hide 
Their rich array, open'd their windowes wide, 
Where kings, great peeres, and many a noble dame, 
Whose bright, pearl-glittering robes did mock the flame 
Of the night's burning lights did sit to see 
How every senator, in his degree 
Adorn'd with shining gold and purple weeds, 
And stately mounted on rich trapped steeds, 
Their guard attending, through the streets did ride 



ST. JOHNS, OR MIDSUMMER'S EVE. 203 

Before their foot-bands, graced with glittering pride 

Of rich-guilt armes, whose glory did present 

A sunshine to the eye, as if it meant 

Amongst the cresset lights shot up on hie, 

To chase darke night for ever from the skie, 

While in the streets the stickelers to and fro, 

To keep decorum, still did come and go ; 

While tables set were plentifully spread, 

And at each doore neighbor with neighbor fed." 1 

There are many superstitions of heathen origin con- 
nected with the observances of St. John's Day. Hen- 
derson in his " Folk Lore of the Northern Counties of 
England," says that: — 

" From the beginning, the Church appears practically to have tol- 
erated such parts of the old mythological system as she considered 
harmless, and to have permitted them to live on without check or 
rebuke. The mass of the clergy also being of the people, were con- 
sequently imbued with the same prejudices, feelings, and super- 
stitions as those to whom they ministered." " Perfectly unacquainted 
with the laws that govern the universe, the early Christians, like 
the Pagans and Neo-Platonists, maple supernatural beings the special 
cause of all the phenomena of Nature. They attributed to these 
beings, according to their beneficial or injurious effects, all atmos- 
pheric phenomena ; according to them, angels watched over the 
different elements, and demons endeavored to overthrow their 
power." 

The early Fathers of the Church, in their contro- 
versy with their Pagan opponents, did not deny the 
existence of these " gods," but rather maintained the 
Scriptural doctrine that the gods which the heathen 

1 For Stow's account of the Marching Watch, see Appendix. 



204 ST. JOHN'S, OR MIDSUMMER'S EVE. 

worshipped were in reality demons or devils : " They 
sacrificed unto devils, not to God ; to gods whom they 
knew not." (Deut. xxxii. 1 7.) The conversion of our 
heathen ancestors to Christianity, it seems, was not so 
complete as to have entirely eradicated their belief in 
the influence and power of their ancient deities. 
Hence the still popular belief in omens, divinations, 
and enchantments of different kinds, especially those 
formerly practiced at the summer solstice. 1 

Durand, speaking of the rites of the Feast of St. 
John the Baptist, informs us of this curious circum- 
stance ; that in some places they roll a wheel about, to 
signify that the sun, then occupying the highest place 
in the zodiac, is beginning to descend. And in the 
amplified account of these ceremonies given by the 
poet Naogeorgius, we read that this wheel was taken 
up to the top of a mountain and rolled down from 
thence ; and that, as it had been previously covered 
with straw twisted about it and set on fire, it appeared 
at a distance as if the sun had been falling from the 
sky. And he further observes, that the people imagine 
that all their ill-luck rolls away from them together 
with this wheel. 

But all such practices as these were strictly forbid- 
den by the early Fathers, and by the general and pro- 

\ It is said that almost if not quite up to the present time, on holiday eves, 
the Norwegian peasant offered cakes, sweet porridge, and libations of wort or 
buttermilk, on mounds consecrated to the invisible folk, and called "boettir 
mounds. " 



ST. JOHN'S, OR MIDSUMMER'S EVE. 205 

vincial councils of the Church, on the ground that 
they were in reality an appeal to the false gods of their 
ancestors. 

The influence of demons seems to have been thought 
by the superstitious to be especially great on the eve of 
the Nativity of the Baptist, who was declared by the 
Scripture to be the forerunner of Him who was to be 
the destroyer of the " Prince of the power of the air," 
and of all the " powers of darkness ; " hence the rage of 
devils and evil spirits on this night. 

The disturbed state of the air made it unsafe to 
sleep, for the demons had the power to separate soul 
and body temporarily, transporting the spirit, by a fear- 
ful nightmare, as it were, to the place where soul and 
body should finally be separated ; hence, also, the 
Marching Watch, with its literal application of the 
words of St. Paul : "Put on the whole armor of God 
that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the 
devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, 
but against principalities, against powers, against the 
rulers of the darkness of this world." 

The use of material fire in combating spiritual 
enemies has been thus satirized by the author of the 
" Comical Pilgrim's Pilgrimage in Ireland," 1725 : — 

" On the Vigil of St. John the Baptist's Nativity, they make 
bonfires, and run along the streets and fields with wisps of straw 
blazing on long poles, to purify the air, which they think infectious, 
by believing all the devils, spirits, ghosts, and hobgoblins fly abroad 
this night to hurt mankind." 



206 ST. JOHN'S, OR MIDSUMMER'S EVE. 

The popular superstition in regard to Christmas 
Eve is in pleasing contrast to the foregoing direful 
picture of the spiritual condition of Ireland : — 

" And then, they say, no spirit can walk abroad ; 
The nights are wholesome ; then no planets strike, 
No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm ; 
So hallowed and so gracious is the time." — Shakespeare, 

The author quoted, on the superstitions of Ireland, 
thus continues his account with great disgust : " Fur- 
thermore, it is their dull theology to affirm the souls 
of all people leave their bodies on the eve of this feast, 
and take their ramble, to that very place, where, by 
land or sea, a final separation shall divorce them for 
evermore in this world." 

Are not the spirit-rappings and table-turnings of 
these days a return to something like a belief in de- 
monology and witchcraft ? and may we not expect that 
hobgoblins and sprites will yet be conjured up from 
the depths of that Red Sea to which they have been 
consigned by the exorcisms of our forefathers ? 

The belief in the unseen world, and in the powers 
of darkness on this particular eve, was once very gen- 
eral in most countries. 

Washington Irving refers to the superstition in the 
" Alhambra," in the legend of Governor Manco and 
the Soldier. All Spain is declared by the story-teller 
to be — 

" A country under the power of enchantment. There is not a 
mountain cave, not a lonely watch-tower in the plains, nor ruined 



ST. JOHN'S, OR MIDSUMMER'S EVE. 2Q'j 

castle on the hills, but has some spell-bound warriors sleeping from 
age to age within its vaults, until the sins are expiated for which 
Allah permitted the dominion to pass for a time out of the hands of 
the faithful. Once every year, on the Eve of St. John, they are 
released from enchantment from sunset to sunrise, and permitted to 
repair here to pay homage to their sovereign Boabdil ; and the 
crowds which you beheld swarming into the cavern are Moslem war- 
riors, from their haunts in all parts of Spain." 

In the Neapolitan towns, says the author of " Roba 
di Roma " — 

" Great fires are built on this festival, around which the people 
dance, jumping through the flames, and flinging themselves about in 
every wild and fantastic attitude. And if you would have a medi- 
cine to cure all wounds and cuts, go out before daylight, and pluck 
the little flower called fiilatro (St. John's wort), and make an in- 
fusion of it before the sun is up ; but at all events, be sure on the 
eve of this day to place a plate of salt at the door, for it is the 
witches' festival, and no one of the tribe can pass the salt to injure, 
you without first counting every grain, a task which will occupy the 
whole night, and thus save you from evil. Besides this, place a 
pitchfork, or any fork, by the door, as an additional safeguard, in 
case she calls in allies to help her count." 

In Germany, on St. John's Eve, says Thorpe, the 
witches are believed to hold their meetings, at which 
they eat the berries of the mountain-ash ; and on St. 
John's Day the Divining rod must be cut from a hazel 
backwards. 

Among the enchantments which were once practiced 
on Midsummer Eve, by young maidens in search of 
suitable partners for life, was that of gathering for 



208 ST. JOHN'S, OR MIDSUMMER'S EVE. 

magical purposes the rose, St. John's wort {Hypericum 
fulcrum), vervanis, trefoil, rue, and fern seed (it was 
thought that to possess this seed, not easily visible, was 
a means of rendering one's self invisible). Young 
women likewise sought for what they called pieces of 
coal, but in reality, certain hard, black, dead roots, often 
found under the living mugwort, designing to place 
these under their pillows, that they might dream of 
their lovers. Says Aubrey : — 

"The last summer, on the day of St. John Baptist (1694), I 
accidentally was walking in the pasture behind Montague House ; it 
was twelve o'clock. I saw there about two or three and twenty 
young women, most of them well habited, on their knees very busie, 
as if they had been weeding. I could not presently learn what the 
matter was ; at last a young man told me that they were looking for 
a coal under the root of a plantain, to put under their heads that 
night, and they should dream who would be their husbands. It was 
to be found that day and hour." 

We may suppose from the following version of a 
German poem, entitled the " St. John's Wort," that pre- 
cisely the same notions prevail amongst the peasant 
youth of Germany : — 

" The young maid stole through the cottage door, 
And blush'd as she sought the plant of power : 
' Thou silver glow-worm, O lend me thy light, 
I must gather the mystic St. John's wort to-night — . 
The wonderful herb, whose leaf will decide 
If the coming year will make me a bride.' 



ST. JOHN'S, OR MIDSUMMER'S EVE. 209 

And the glow-worm came 

With its silvery flame, 

And sparkled and shone 

Through the night of St. John. 
And soon has the young maid her love-knot tied. 

With noiseless tread, 

To her chamber she sped, 
Where the spectral moon her white beams shed ; 
' Bloom here, bloom here, thou plant of power, 
To deck the young bride in her bridal hour ! ' 
But it droop'd its head, that plant of power, 
And died the mute death of the voiceless flower ; 
And a withered wreath on the ground it lay, 
More meet for a burial than bridal day. 
And when a year was past away, 
All pale on her bier the young maid lay ; 

And the glow-worm came 

With its silvery flame, 

And sparkled and shone 

Through the night of St. John, 
As they closed the cold grave o'er the maid's cold clay." 

The Orpine plant, sometimes called "midsummer 
man," also occurs among the following love divina- 
tions on Midsummer Eve, preserved in the " Connois- 
seur : " — 

" I and my two sisters tried the dumb cake together \ you must 
know, two must make it, two bake it, two break it, and the third put 
it under each of their pillows (but you must not speak a word all 
the time) and then you will dream of the man you are to have. 
This we did, and, to be sure, I did nothing all night but dream of 
Mr. Blossom. The same night exactly at twelve o'clock, I sowed 
hemp-seed in our back yard, and said to myself : ' Hemp-seed I 
H 



2IO ST. JOHN'S, OR MIDSUMMER'S EVE. 

sow, 1 hemp-seed I hoe, and he that is my true love come after me 
and mow.' Will you believe me ? I looked back and saw him as 
plain as eves could see him. After that I took a clean shift and 
wetted it, and turned it wrong side out, and hung it to the fire upon 
the back of a chair ; and very likely my sweetheart would have 
come and turned it right again (for I heard his step), but I was 
frightened, and could not help speaking, which broke the charm. I 
myself stuck up two midsummer men, one for myself and one for 
him. Now if his had died away, we should never have come 
together ; but I assure you his bowed and turned to mine. Our 
maid Betty tells me, if I go backwards, without speaking a word, 
into the garden upon Midsummer Eve, and gather a rose, and keep 
it in a clean sheet of paper, without looking at it till Christmas Day, 
it will be as fresh as in June ; and if I then stick it in my bosom, 
he that is to be my husband will come and take it out." 

A proof of the antiquity and universality of these 
popular superstitions is to be found in a ring, recently 
discovered in a ploughed field near Cawood, in York- 
shire, which appeared from the style of its inscription 
to be of the fifteenth century. It bore for a device, 
two orpine plants joined by a true-love-knot, with this 
motto above, " Ma fiancee velt" that is my sweetheart 
wills, or is desirous. The stalks of the plants were 
bent toward each other, in token, no doubt, that the 
parties represented by them were to come together 

1 The same superstition is referred to in Burns' Halloween : — 

" Hemp-seed, I saw thee ; 
An' her that is to be my lass, 
Come after me, and draw thee 
As fast this night." 



ST. JOHN'S, OR MIDSUMMER'S EVE. 211 

in marriage. The motto under the ring was " Joye 
V amour feu" 

From the first, says Mr. Henderson, the Church by 
the decrees of councils and the voice of her chief 
fathers and doctors condemned such superstitions (as 
we have noticed above), not however on the ground of 
their folly, but of their impiety. It is possible, there- 
fore, that her denunciations might go toward confirm- 
ing a belief in the minds of the people in the whole 
fabric of superstition, as a real and powerful though 
forbidden thing — the " Black Art," as it was called. 

A long list of popular superstitions was condemned 
by a council held in the eighth century at Leptines 
in Hainault. Pope Gregory III. also issued similar 
anathemas. The Capitularies of Charlemagne and his 
successors, repeat the denunciations of them. 

About the same date similar superstitions were re- 
buked in Scotland by the Abbot Cameanus the Wise. 
In the same century, St. Eligius, Bishop of Nayon, 
preached against similar superstitions : — 

" Above all, I implore you not to observe the sacrilegious customs 
of the Pagans. Do not consult the gravers of talismans, nor divi- 
ners, nor sorcerers, nor enchanters, for any sickness whatsoever. Do 
not take notice of auguries, or of sneezings \ do not pay attention 
to the songs of the birds when you go abroad. Let no Christian 
pay regard to the particular day on which he leaves a house or 
enters it. Let no one perplex himself about the new moon or 
eclipses. Let no one do on the calends of January (Christmas 
holidays) those forbidden, ridiculous, ancient, and disreputable 
things, such as dancing, or keeping open house all night, or getting 



212 ST. JOHN'S, OR MIDSUMMER'S EVE. 

drunk. Let no one on the Feast of St. John, or any other saint, 
celebrate solstices by dances, carols, or diabolical chants." 

In the provincial Council of York, in a. d. 1466, it 
was declared, with St. Thomas, that " all superstition 
was idolatry." " On the whole," continues Mr. Hender- 
son, " it certainly appears that the early and mediaeval 
Churches in their collective form, far from consciously 
encouraging heathenish superstition, constantly pro- 
tested against it. Individual clergy in remote districts 
may have taken a different line, as St. Patrick is said 
to have done in engrafting Christianity on Paganism 
with so much skill, that he won over the people to the 
Christian religion before they understood the exact 
difference between the two systems of belief. At any 
rate — and jesting aside — the old superstition has 
lived on with marvelous vitality, and the Reformation, 
at least on the Continent, and in Scotland, has done 
little to check it. On the contrary, it would seem that 
the popular mind, when cut away from communion 
with the angelic world and saints departed, fastened 
the more readily upon a supernatural system of an- 
other order." 

Note.— In Sweden, " on St. John's Eve, they gather and bind together all sorts 
of flowers and plants, which they call Midsommers-qvastar (Midsummer-posies). 
These are hung up in every house, particularly in the stables, the cattle then can- 
not be bewitched. The St. John's wort [hypericum] must be among the rest, as 
possessing extraordinary virtue. On St. John's Eve much may happen; and 
much be foreseen of importance for a person's remaining life." The love-sick 
entwines wreaths of nine sorts of flowers and lays them under his or her pillow, 
and whatever dreams. " whisper over such flowers will prove true." — Thorpe. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



HARVEST HOME. 



^.^"Va 



-*N 



J&srMis&a, 



<ce- J— s 



?% 





MONG 

the an- 
cient festivals 
the revival of 
which in our 
times has met with 
especial favor and ac- 
ceptance is that of the 
old English Harvest 
Home. In its relig- 
ious aspect, at least, 
this holiday corres- 
ponds with our Na- 
tional Thanksgiving. 
Indeed, the New Eng- 
land festival in all 
probability has been 
derived from that of 
old England, divested, 
of course, of " heathenish " ceremonies, for in the eyes of 



2 1 4 HAR VEST HOME. 

scrupulous Puritanism, such a custom as that depicted 
in our full page illustration must have seemed like a 
return to the idolatrous worship of Ceres. 

As among the ancient Jews the feast of the 
" Harvest-Home " was identical with the Feast of 
Pentecost, and as the Whitsun festival is but a con- 
tinuation of this most ancient of festivals, we have 
reserved the consideration of its poetical and pictu- 
resque observances for this the concluding chapter. 

The Jewish festival of Pentecost, says Mr. Blunt, in 
his " Key to the Prayer-Book," is supposed to have 
been instituted by God as a memorial of the day on 
which he gave the Law to Moses, and declared the 
Israelites " a peculiar treasure, a kingdom of priests, 
and an holy nation" (Exodus xix. 5,6): an object of 
the day which makes its connection with Whitsunday, 
the day when the Holy Ghost descended to sanctify a 
new Israel for " a peculiar people and a royal priest- 
hood," very significant. But the prominent character 
of the day was that of a solemn harvest festival. Fifty 
days previously, the first cut sheaf of corn was offered 
to God for a blessing on the harvest then about to 
begin. On the day of Pentecost, two loaves of the 
first new bread were offered (with appointed burnt 
offerings) in thanksgiving for the harvest then ended ; 
and this aspect of the feast has also a striking signifi- 
cance. For, as Christ was the " Corn of Wheat " 
which (having " fallen into the ground and died " on 
the day of the Passover) had borne much fruit when 



HAR VEST-HOME. 2 1 5 

it sprung up a new and perpetual Sacrifice to God on 
Easter Day, so the five thousand baptized on the day 
of Pentecost were the first offering to God of the 
" One Bread " of the Lord's Body. (1 Cor. x. 17.) 

Not only has this Feast of Ingathering or Har- 
vest-Home, been observed under Jewish dispensations, 
but it seems also that wherever throughout the earth, 
especially among Christian nations, there is such a 
thing as a formal harvest, there also appears an incli- 
nation to mark it with a festive celebration. 

This festival of Ingathering has been observed in 
England at a much later period of the year than that 
prescribed by the Law of Moses, for the obvious 
reason that the grain crops were not ripe for the 
sickle in England until the end of Summer or the 
beginning of Autumn. 

Among our forefathers, St. Rock's Day (August 16) 
was generally celebrated as the Harvest-Home. The 
festival is now, however, observed on different days, and 
much later in the season. The late ripening of the 
Indian corn in this country, may, perhaps, account for 
the still later observance with us of the Harvest-Home 
or Thanksgiving. It is to be regretted, however, that 
our practice of deferring this festival of Ingathering 
to the end of November, although convenient in some 
respects, deprives us of the enjoyment of many of 
those picturesque rural customs and ceremonies which 
distinguish the Harvest-Home of our ancestors. The 
month of October, with its gorgeous display of autum- 



2 1 6 HAR VEST-HOME. 

nal leaves, fruits, and flowers, would seem much more 
appropriate, and would be more in harmony with the 
usages of other Christian nations. Says the " Book 
of Days"— 

" Most of the old harvest customs were connected with the in- 
gathering of the crops, but some of them began with the commence- 
ment of harvest work. Thus in the southern counties of England, 
it was customary for the laborers to elect from among themselves a 
leader, whom they denominated their ' lord.' To him all the rest 
were required to give precedence, and to leave all transactions 
respecting their work. He made the terms with the farmers for 
mowing, for reaping, and for all the rest of the harvest work ; he 
took the lead with the scythe, with the sickle, and on the l carrying- 
days ; ' he was to be the first to eat, and the first to drink, at all 
their refreshments ; his mandate was to be law to all the rest, who 
were bound to address him as ' My Lord,' and to show him all due 
honor and respect. Disobedience in any of these particulars was 
punished by imposing fines according to a scale previously agreed 
on by ' the lord ' and all his vassals. In some instances, if any of 
his men swore or told a lie in his presence, a fine was inflicted. In 
Buckinghamshire and other counties ' a lady ' was elected as well as 
' a lord,' which often added much merriment to the harvest season. 
For while the lady was to receive all honors due to the lord from 
the rest of the laborers, he (for the lady was one of the workmen) 
was required to pass it on to the lord. For instance, at drinking 
time, the vassals were to give the horn first to the lady, who passed 
it to the lord, and when he had drunk, she drank next, and then the 
others indiscriminately. Every departure from this rule incurred a 
fine. The blunders which led to fines, of course, were frequent, and 
produced great merriment. 

- " In the old simple days of England, before the natural feelings 
of the people had been checked and chilled by Puritanism in the 
first place, and what may be called gross Commercialism in the 



HAR VEST-HOME. 2 1 7 

second, the Harvest-Home was such a scene as Horace's friends 
might have expected to see at his Sabine farm, or as Theocritus 
described in his ' Idyls.' Perhaps it really was the very same 
scene which was presented in ancient times. The grain last 
cut was brought home in its wagon called the hock-cart, sur- 
mounted by a figure formed of a sheaf with gay dressings — a 
presumable representation of the goddess Ceres — while a pipe and 
tabor went merrily sounding in front, and the reapers tripped 
around- in a hand in hand ring, singing appropriate songs, or simply 
by shouts and cries giving vent to the excitement of the day. 

"'Harvest-Home, Harvest-Home; 
We have ploughed, we have sowed, 
We have reaped, we have mowed, 
We have brought home every load ; 
Hip, hip, hip, Harvest-Home ! ' 

" So they sang or shouted. In Lincolnshire and other districts 
hand-bells were carried by those riding on the last load, and the 
following rhymes were sung : — 

" ' The boughs do shake, and the bells do ring, 
So merrily comes our harvest in, 
Our harvest in, our harvest in, 
So merrily comes our harvest in ! 
Hurrah ! ' 

• 
" Sometimes, the image on the cart, instead of being a mere 
dressed up bundle of grain, was a pretty girl of the reaping band, 
crowned with flowers, and hailed as the maiden, Of this we have a 
description in a ballad of Bloomfield's : — 

" ' Home came the jovial hockey load, 
Last of the whole year's crop, 
And Grace among the green boughs rode, 
Right plump upon the top. 

" ' This way and that the wagon reeled, 
And never queen rode higher ; 



2 1 8 HAR VEST-HOME. 

Her cheeks were colored in the field, 
And ours before the fire.' 

"In some provinces — for instance in Buckinghamshire — it was 
a favorite practical joke to lay an ambuscade at some place where a 
high bank or a tree gave opportunity, and drench the hock-cart 
party with water. Great was the merriment when this was cleverly 
and effectively done, the riders laughing, while they shook them- 
selves, as merrily as the rest. 

" In the North of England, as the reapers went on during the last 
day, they took care to leave a good handful of the grain uncut, but 
laid down flat, and covered over ; and when the field was done, the 
1 bonniest lass ' was allowed to cut this final handful, which was 
presently dressed up with various sewings, tyings, and trimmings, 
like a doll, and hailed as a corn baby. It was brought home in 
triumph, with music of fiddlers and bagpipes, was set up conspicu- 
ously that night at supper, and was usually preserved in the farmer's 
parlor for the remainder of the year. The bonny lass who cut this 
handful of grain, was deemed the Har'st Queen." 

In the ceremony described above, we are reminded 
of the Scripture story of Ruth, that Harvest Queen of 
other days. 

The following examples, from the Rev. Edward 
Cutts' " Book of Church Decoration," are selected in 
illustration of the more modern usage in England, 
where the religious aspect of the Feast of Ingathering, 
seems to have been particularly revived : — 

" At St. George's, Winkleigh, Devon, the church was reopened 
after restoration, for the Harvest Festival, and the church, was 
handsomely decorated. For this purpose every farmer of the parish 
was asked to give a sheaf of corn for the decoration of the 
church, and what was not used for the purpose, would be distributed 



HAR VEST-HOME. 2 1 9 

to the poor. The farmers were unanimous in complying with the 
request, and many offered more than was asked for. The day was 
kept as a general holiday, and several triumphal arches adorned the 
village. The church was decorated with corn and flowers, the 
thank-offerings of the parishioners. Long lines of ears of wheat 
swept round the arches of the aisles, with hop-flowers twining grace- 
fully up the granite pillars ; from the font, through the aisles to the 
chancel gleamed the golden grain, interspersed with flowers and 
mottoes. 

"At All Saints', Lullingstone, Derbyshire, the parishioners went 
to church in procession, every one carrying a beautiful bouquet of 
geranium and wheat ears. On arriving at the church-yard gate, 
the band ceased playing ; the harvest hymn, which follows, was 
sung : — 

" ' Come, ye thankful people, come 
Raise the song of Harvest-Home ! 
All is safely gathered in 
Ere the winter storms begin ; 
God, our Maker, doth provide 
For our wants to be supplied ; 
Come to God's own Temple, come ; 
Raise the song of Harvest-Home ! ' 

and so singing, clergy, choir, and people, entered the church in 
order. Everything spoke of the harvest. On either side the porch 
rested a good sheaf of wheat. Wheat sheaves, with bunches of 
grapes, were laid upon the white-vested altar. Every standard in 
nave and aisles bore its selected ears of corn ; the flower-wreaths 
which crept round the stalls and lectern, were interlaced with the 
golden wheat ear. The font was surmounted with a canopy of 
flowers terminating in a tall floral cross. 

At South Newton, Wilts, the parishioners went to church in pro- 
cession ; first, banners and a band of music, then three men in their 
smock-frocks, bearing sheaves of wheat, oats, and barley ; then the 
Salisbury Plain Shepherds bearing their crooks, tied round with 
locks of wort and ribands ; then the farmers, and then the laborers, 
two by two. 



2 20 HAR VEST-HOME. 

" At Paulton, Somerset, over the church-yard gate, was a pretty 
and tasteful design of flowers interspersed with corn and evergreens, 
flanked by two small sheaves of corn, one of wheat and the other 
of barley. Several flags floated in the breeze from the ancient 
tower, and during the day the bells rung merry peals. 

" At East Brent, also, a loaf of the New Year's corn was pre- 
sented and used for the Holy Communion. At St. John's, Leicester, 
the wreaths round the capitals and along the string courses, were of 
plaited wheat, oats, barley, and ivy, with red berries and red and blue 
flowers interspersed. In the decoration of the pulpit and font, 
evergreens, corn, scarlet and blue flowers, fern, twigs of barberry 
were used strung together with the branches of red barberries hang- 
ing down, and the effect is spoken of as being very successful. On 
the communion table were laid a group of two sheaves of wheat, 
with bunches of purple and white grapes, on a background of vine 
leaves, between the sheaves ; and on the wall behind, encircling an 
I. H. S. of wheat ears, was a star of vine leaves, grapes, and 
flowers, having worked within it, in grains of wheat, the text, ' I am 
the Bread of Life.' " 

In conclusion, we quote Herrick's felicitous descrip- 
tion of the convivialities which attended the Harvest- 
Home thanksgiving of the olden time : — 

" Come, sons of summer, by whose toile 
We are the Lords of wine and oile ; 
By whose tough labours, and rough hands, 
We rip up first, then reap our lands, 
Crown'd with the ears of corne, now come, 
And to the pipe sing Harvest-Home. 
Come forth, my Lord, and see the cart, 
Drest up with all the country art. 
See here a maukin, there a sheet, 
As spotlesse pure as it is sweet ; 



HAR VEST-HOME. 2 2 I 

The horses, mares, and frisking fillies, 

Clad, all, in linnen white as lillies ; 

The harvest swaines and wenches bound 

For joy, to see the hock-cart crown'd ; 

About the cart, heare how the rout 

Of rural younglings raise the shout, 

Pressing before, some coming after, 

Those with a shout and these with laughter. 

Some blesse the cart ; some kiss the sheaves ; 

Some prank them up with oaken leaves ; 

Some crosse the fill-horse ; some with great 

Devotion stroak the home borne wheat: 

While other rusticks, lesse attent 

To prayers than to merryment 

Run after with their breeches rent. 

Well, on, brave boyes to your Lord's hearth 

Glitt'ring with fire, where for your mirth 

You shall see first the large and cheefe 

Foundation of your feast, fat beefe ; 

With upper stories, mutton, veale, 

And bacon, which makes full the meale ; 

With sev'rall dishes standing by, 

As here a custard, there a pie, 

And here all tempting frumentie. 

And for to make the merrie cheere 

If smirking wine be wanting here, 

There's that which drowns all care, stout beere, 

Which freely drink to your Lord's health, 

Then to the plough, the commonwealth ; 

Next to your flailes, your fanes, your fatts, 

Then to the maids with wheaten hats ; 

To the rough sickle, and the crookt sythe 

Drink, frollick, boyes, till all be blythe, 

Feed and grow fat, and as ye eat, 



222 HARVEST-HOME. 

Be mindfull that the lab'ring neat, 
As you, may have their full of meat ; 
And know, besides, you must revoke 
The patient oxe unto the yoke, 
All, all goe. back unto the plough 
And harrow, though they're hang'd up now. 
And you must know, your Lord's word 's true, 
"Feed him you must, whose food fills you." 
And that the pleasure is like rain, 
Not sent you for to drowne your paine ; 
But for to make it spring againe." 



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APPENDIX. 



CHRISTMAS PLAYS. 

The old Christmas play of " St. George and the Dragon," says 
Mr. Hervey, is still amongst the most popular amusements of this 
season, in many parts of England. The Guisards in Scotland also 
perform a play which is of similar construction, and evidently bor- 
rowed from the same source. Sir Walter Scott, in his notes to " Mar- 
mion," speaks of this play, as one in which he and his companions 
were in the habit of taking parts when boys ; and mentions the 
characters of the old Scripture plays having got mixed up with it in 
the version familiar to him. He enumerates St Peter, who carried 
the keys, St. Paul, who was armed with a sword, and Judas, who had 
the bag for contributions ; and says that he believes there was also 
a St George. The confusion of characters, in all the different ver- 
sions, is very great In the Whitehaven edition given below, Saint 
or Prince George is son to the king of Egypt and the hero who 
carried all before him is Alexander. The characters in the play of 
St. George and the Dragon, given by Hervey, are — The Turkish 
Knight, Father Christmas, The King of Egypt, Saint George, The 
Dragon, and Giant Turpin. 

The same play with slight variations is also to be found in Sandys' 
" Christmas Tide ; " but as the most amusing of these Christmas Plays 
is that of Alexander and the King of Egypt, mentioned above, it is 
here subjoined as a specimen. 



APPENDIX. 235 

ALEXANDER, OR THE KING OF EGYPT. 
A MOCK PLAY, AS IT IS ACTED BY THE MUMMERS EVERY CHRISTMAS. 

Act I. — Scene I 
Enter Alexander. 

ALEXANDER. 

Silence, brave gentlemen. If you will give an eye, 

Alexander is my name, I'll sing a tragedy. 

A ramble here I took, the country for to see, 

Three actors I have brought so far from Italy ; 

The first I do present, he is a noble king, 

He 's just come from the wars — good tidings he doth bring. 

The next that doth come in, he is a doctor good, 

Had it not been for him I'd surely lost my blood. 

Old Dives is the next, a miser, you may see, 

Who, by lending of his gold, is come to poverty. 

So, gentlemen, you see our actors will go round ; 

Stand off a little while — more pastime will be found. 

Act I — Scene II. 

Enter Actors. 

Room, room, brave gallants — give us room to sport, 
For in this room we wish for to resort — 
Resort, and to repeat to you our merry rhyme ; 
For remember, good sirs, this is Christmas time. 
The time to cut up goose-pies now doth appear, 
So we are come to act our merry Christmas here ; 
At the sound of the trumpet and beat of the drum, 
Make room, brave gentlemen, and let our actors come ; 
We are the merry actors that traverse the street, 
We are the merry actors that fight for our meat ; 



o 



6 APPENDIX. 

We are the merry actors that show pleasant play, 
Step in, thou King of Egypt, and clear the way. 

KING OF EGYPT. 

I am the King of Egypt, as plainly doth appear, 
And Prince George he is my only son and heir. 
Step in, therefore, my son, and act thy part with me, 
And show forth thy fame before the company. 

PRINCE GEORGE. 

I am Prince George, a champion brave and bold, 

For with my spear I've won three crowns of gold. 

'Twas I that brought the dragon to the slaughter, 

And I that gained th' Egyptian Monarch's daughter. 

In Egypt's fields I prisoner long was kept, 

But by my valor I from them escaped : 

I sounded loud at the gate of a divine, 

And out came a giant of no good design • 

He gave me a blow which almost struck me dead, 

But I up with my sword, and cut off his head. 

ALEXANDER. 

Hold, slasher, hold ! pray do not be so hot, 

For in this spot thou knowest not who thou'st got ; 

'Tis I that's to hash thee and smash thee as small as flies, 

And send thee to Satan, 1 to make mince pies. 

Mince pies hot, mince pies cold — 

I'll send thee to Satan ere thou'rt three days old. 

But hold ! Prince George, before you go away, 

Either you or I must die this bloody day ; 

Some mortal wounds thou shalt receive of me — 

So let us fight it out most manfully. 

1 In another version it is "to Jamaica." 



APPENDIX. 237 

Act II — Scene I 
A lexander and Prince George fight — The Latter is wounded and falls. 

KING OF EGYPT. 

Curst Christian ! what is this thou hast done ? 
Thou hast ruined me by killing my best son. 

ALEXANDER. 

He gave me a challenge. How should I him deny ? 
And see how low he lies who was so high. 

KING OF EGYPT. 

O, Sambo, Sambo, help me, now, 
For I was never more in need, 
For thee to stand with sword in hand, 
And to fight at my command. 

DOCTOR. 

Yes, my liege, I will thee obey, 
And by my sword I hope to win the day : 
Yonder stands he who has killed my master's son, 
And has his ruin thoughtlessly begun ; 
I'll try if he be sprung from Royal blood, 
And through his body make an ocean flood. 
Gentlemen, you see my sword's point is broke. 
Or else I'd run it through that villain's throat. 

KING OF EGYPT. 

Is there never a doctor to be found 

That can cure my son of his deadly wound ? 

DOCTOR. 

Yes, there is a doctor to be found 

That can cure your son of his deadly wound. 

KING OF • EGYPT. 

What diseases can he cure ? 



38 APPENDIX. 



DOCTOR. 

All sorts of diseases, 

Whatever you pleases — 

The phthisic, the palsy, and gout — 

If the devil were in, I'd blow him out. 



KING OF EGYPT. 

What is your fee ? 

DOCTOR. 

Fifteen pounds is my fee, 

The money to lay down ; 
But as 'tis such an one as he, 

I'll cure him for ten pound. 
I carry a little bottle of alicumpane ; 

Here, Jack, take a little of my flip-flop, 

Pour it down thy lip-top, 
Rise up and fight again. 

[The Doctor perforins his cure as the scene closes. 

Act III. — Scene II. 

Prince George (arises). 

O, horrible, terrible ! the like was never seen — ■ 
A man drove out of seven senses into fifteen, 
And out of fifteen into fourscore — 
O, horrible ! O, terrible ! the like was ne'er before. 

ALEXANDER. 

Thou silly ass, thou liv'st on grass ; 

Dost thou abuse a stranger ? 
I live in hopes to buy new ropes 

And tie thy nose to a manger. 

PRINCE GEORGE. 

Sir, unto you I give my hand. 



APPENDIX. 239 

ALEXANDER. 

Stand off, thou slave ! Think thee not my friend ! 

PRINCE GEORGE. 

A slave, sir ! That 's for me far too base a name — 
That word deserves to stab thine honor's fame. 

ALEXANDER. 

To be stabbed, sir, is least of all my care — ■ 
Appoint your time and place, I'll meet you there. 

PRINCE GEORGE. 

I'll cross the water at the hour of five. 

ALEXANDER. 

I'll meet you there, sir, if I be alive ! 

PRINCE GEORGE. 

But stop, sir, I'll wish you a wife, both lusty and young. 
Can talk Dutch, French, and th' Italian tongue. 

ALEXANDER. 

I'll have none such ! 

PRINCE GEORGE. 

Why ? Don't you love your learning ? 

ALEXANDER. 

Yes ; I love my learning, as I love my life ; 
I love a learned scholar, but not a learned wife. 
Stand off, etc. (as before). 

KING OF EGYPT. 

Sir, to express thy beauty I'm not able, 
For thy face shines as the kitchen table ; 
Thy teeth are no whiter than the charcoal, etc. 



240 APPENDIX. 

ALEXANDER. 

Stand off, thou dirty dog, or by my sword thou'lt die — 
I'll make thy body full of holes, and cause thy buttons fly. 

Act IV. — Scene I. 
King of Egypt fights and is killed. 

Enter Prince George. 

O, what is here ? O, what is to be done ? 
Our King is slain — the crown is likewise gone. 
Take up his body, bear it hence away, 
For in this place it shall no longer stay. 

Conclusion. 

Bouncer ! Buckler ! Velvet 's dear, 

And Christinas comes but once a year, 

Though w r hen it comes it brings good cheer. 

But farewell, Christmas, once a year — 

Farewell — farewell — adieu friendship and unity, 

I hope we have made sport and pleased the company. 

But, gentlemen, you see we're but actors four, 

We've done our best — and the best can do no more. 1 

1 " These tragic performers wear white trowsers and waistcoats, showing their 
shirt-sleeves, and are much decorated with ribbons and handkerchiefs — each 
carrying a drawn sword in his hand, if they can be procured, otherwise a cudgel. 
They wear high caps of pasteboard, covered with fancy paper, adorned with beads, 
small pieces of looking-glass, bugles, etc. — several long strips of different colored 
cloth strung on them, the whole having a fanciful and smart effect. The Doctor, 
who is a sort of merry-andrew to the piece, is dressed in some ridiculous way, 
with a three-cornered hat and painted face." 

"The Turk sometimes has a turban ; Father Christmas is personified as a gro- 
tesque old man, wearing a large mask and wig, with a huge club in his hand. The 
female, when there is one, is in the costume of her great-grandmother. The 
hobby-horse, when introduced, has a sort of representation of a horse's hide, but 
the dragon and the giant, when there is one, frequently appear with the same style 
of dress as the knights." 



APPENDIX. 241 

"NORTHUMBERLAND HOUSEHOLD BOOK." 

The following curious Items from the Northumberland House- 
hold Book of Earl Percy, 15 12, together with the Inventory of the 
splendid Robes of Office and ornaments of a Barne or Boy Bishop, 1 
taken from an ancient MS., is abridged from the " Antiquarian 
Repertory." 

" Item. My Lord usith and accustomyth yerely when his Lord- 
ship is at home to yef unto the Barne Bishop of Beverley when he 
comith to my Lorde in Cristmas Holly Dayes when my Lord kepith 
his Hous at Lokynfeld — xx 8 . 

" Item. My Lorde useth and accustomyth to gif yerely when his 
Lordship is at home to the Barne-Bishop of Yorke when he comes 
over to my Lord in Cristynmase Holly Dayes as he is accustomede 
yerely — xx 9 . 

" Item. My Lord useth and accustomth to gyfe yerely upon Saynt 
Nicolas — Even if he kepe chapell for Saynt Nicolas to the Master 
of his children of his chapell for one of the children of his chapell 
yerely vi. 8 viij. d And if Saynt Nicolas com owt of the Towne 
wher my Lord lyeth and my Lord kepe no chapell than to hove 
yerely hi. 8 iiij. d — vi. 8 viij. d 

" Item, My Lord useth and accustomyth to gyfe yerely if his Lord- 
ship kepe a Chapell and be at home, them of his Lordschipes Chapell 
if they do play the play of the Nativite uppon Cristenmes day in 
the mornnynge in my Lords Chapell befor his Lordship — xx. s 

1 In Hearne's "Liber Niger Scaccaiii, 1728," we find that Archbishop Ro- 
theram bequeathed " a myter for the Barne bishop, of cloth of gold, with two 
knopps of silver gilt and enamyled." In Lysons's " Environs of London," among 
his curious extracts from the Church-warden's Accounts at Lambeth, is the follow- 
ing: " 1523. For the Bishop's dynner and hys company on St. Nycolas Day, ijs. 
viijd. 3 ' The Church-warden's Accounts of St. Mary-at-Hill, London, 10 Henry 
VI., mention two children's copes, also a myter of cloth of gold set with stones." 
Under 1549, also, Lucas and Stephen, church-wardens, is : "For 12 oz. silver, 
being clasps of books and the bishop's mitre, at vs. viijd. per oz. vjl. xvjs. jd." 
These last were sold. In the " Inventory of Church Goods," belonging to the 
same parish, at the same time, we have : " Item, a mitre for a Bishop at St. 
Nicholas-tyde, garnished with silver and amelyd, and perle, and counterfeit 
stone." jg 



242 APPENDIX. 

" Item. My Lorde useth and accustomyth to gyf yerely when 
his Lordschippe is home and hath an Abbot of Miserewll (Misrule) 
in Cristynmas in his Lordschippis House uppon New-Yers-day in 
reward — xx. 8 

" Item. My Lorde useth and accustomyth yerly to gyf hym 
which is ordyned to be Master of the Revells yerly in my Lords 
House in Cristmas for the overseyinge and orderinge of his Lord- 
ships Plays, Interludes and Dresinge that is plaid befor his Lordship 
in his House in the xij th Dayes of the Cristenmas and they to have 
in rewarde for that caus yerly — xx 8 ." 

The following is an Inventory of the splendid robes and orna- 
ments belonging to a Barne or Boy-Bishop, taken from an ancient 
MS. 

CONTENTA DE ORNAMENTIS EPI. PUER. 

(E Rotulo in pergamen.) 

"Imprimis, i Myter well garnished with Perle and precious 
Stones, with Nowches of Silver and Gilt before and behind. 

"Item, iiij Rynges of Silver and Gilt, with four ridde Precious 
Stones in them. 

" Item i Pontifical with Silver and Gilt, with a blue Stone in hytt. 

" It. i Owche broken Silver and Gilt, with iiij Precious Stones 
and a Perle in the mydds. 

" It. A Croose, with a Staff of Coper and Gilt, with the Ymage 
of St Nicolas in the mydds. 

" It i Vestment redde with Lyons, with Silver, with Brydds 
of Gold in the Orferes of the same. 

" It i Albe to the same with Starres in the paro. 

"Item, i ' White Cope, stayned with Tristells and Orferes redde 
Sylke with Does of Gold and whytt Napkins about the Necks. 

" It. iiij Copes blew Sylk with red Orferes trayled with whitt 
Braunchis and Flowres. 

" It. i Steyned Cloth of the Ymage of St Nicholas. 

"It. i Tabard of Skarlet and a Hodde thereto, lyned with 
whitt Sylk. 

" It. A Hode of Skarlett lyned with blue Sylk." 

The Lord Abbot of misrule, mentioned above, appears to have 
been the same popular character that was known after the Reforma- 



APPENDIX. 243 

tion (when the term Abbot had acquired an ill sound) by the title 
Lord of Misrule. The Scottish Abbot of Un-reason was also, it 
seems, identical in many particulars, with the English Abbot of Mis- 
rule. Sir Walter Scott has given a spirited description of the pro- 
ceedings of this mock prelate in " The Abbot," vol. i., chap. xiv. 
In Scotland, where the Reformation took a more severe and gloomy 
turn, this and some other sportive characters were thought worthy an 
Act of Parliament to suppress them. See the 6th Parlia. of Queen 
Mary of Scotland, 1555. 

" Item. It is Statute and ordained that in all times cumming na 
maner of persons be chosen ' Robert Hude ' nor ' Little John ' 
1 Abbot of Un-reason ' ' Queenis of May' nor utherwise nouther in 
Burgh nor in Landwart (I. e. in the Country) in onie times to cum." 
And this under very high penalty, viz., " to the chusers of such charac- 
ters loss of freedom and other punishment at the Queen's Grace' 
Will " and banishment from the realme to the " acceptor of sic-like 
office." 

Note i. — "The well-known festivity of the Eton-Montem, abolished in 1847, 
appears to have originated in and been a continuance under another form of the 
mediaeval custom of the Boy-Bishop. In recent times, this Eton-Montem festival 
used to be celebrated on Whitsun Tuesday, but previous to 1759, it took place 
on the first Tuesday in Hilary Term, which commences on 23d January. At a 
still remoter period, the celebration appears to have been held about the Christmas 
Holidays, on one of the days between the feasts of St. Nicholas and the Holy In- 
nocents. One of the customs, certainly a relic of the Boy-Bishop revels, wa<= 
after the procession reached Salt Hill (' Ad Montem,' whence the name of the 
festival) for a boy habited in clerical vestments, to read prayers, whilst another 
officiated as a clerk, who at the conclusion of the service was kicked down hill by 
the parson. This irreverent part of the ceremonies however was latterly abro- 
gated, in deference to the wishes of Queen Charlotte." 

Note 2. — Among the popular dramatic exhibitions, similar in some respects to 
those above noticed, which even so late as the beginning of the reign of Queen 
Elizabeth, were enacted in many of the principal churches in England, was that 
of the Sepulchre Show, or Watching the Holy Sepulchre at Easter, the subject 
of the representation being taken from the Gospel for the Day. 

The custom was to erect in the church a representation of the sepulchre, and 
the consecrated wafer being placed in it on the Eve of the Festival remained 
until the Morning of Easter Day. 

In an old Parish Record there is an entry of one Roger Brook, playing the part 
of watchman on such an occasion, for which he was paid eight-pence, and a note 



244 APPENDIX. 

is appended to the account, stating that this was a ceremony used in churches in 
remembrance of the soldiers watching the Sepulchre of Our Saviour. 

Mr. Fosbrooke gives the " properties " of the Sepulchre-show belonging to St. 
Mary Redcliffe's Church at Bristol, from an original manuscript in his posses- 
sion formerly belonging to Chatterton : — " Master Cannings hath delivered the 
4th day of July in the year of Our Lord 1470 to Master Nicholas Pelles Vicar of 
Redcliffe, Moses Conterin, Philip Barthelmew, and John Brown, procurators of 
Redcliffe beforesaid, a new sepulchre well guilt with fine gold and a civer thereto ; 
an image of God Almighty rising out of the same sepulchre, with all the ordi- 
nance that longeth thereto ; that is to say, a lath made of timber and iron work 
thereto. Item, Hereto longeth Heaven made of timber and stained cloths. 
Item, Hell made of timber and iron work thereto, with Devils, the number of 
Thirteen. Item, Four Knights armed, keeping the Sepulchre, with their weap- 
ons in their hands ; that is to say, two spears, two axes, with two shields. Item, 
Four pair of angels wings for four angels, made of timber and well painted. Item, 
the Fadre, the crown and visage, the ball with a cross upon it. well guilt with fine 
gold. Item, the Holy Ghost coming out of heaven into the Sepulchre. Item, 
longeth to the four angels four Perukes." 



THE CHRISTMAS PRINCE, AS IT WAS EXHIBITED IN THE 
UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD IN THE YEAR 1607. 

"It hapned in the yeare of our Lord 1607 the 31 of October 
beinge. All Sayntes Eue, that at night a fier was made in the Hall 
of St. John Baptist's Colledge in Oxon, accordinge to the custome 
and statuts of the same place, at w ch time the whole companye or 
the most parte of the Students of the same house mette toogether 
to beginne their Christmas, of w ch some came to see sports, to witte 
the Seniors as well Graduates, as Vnder-graduates. Others to make 
sports, viz. Studentes of the second yeare, whom they call Poulder- 
lings, others to make sporte w th all, of this last sort were they 
whome they call Fresh-menn .... But (as it often falleth out) 
the Freshmen patients, thinkinge the Poulderlings or Agentes too 
buysie and nimble, They them too dull and backwarde in theyr 
duety, the standers by findinge both of them too forwarde & vio- 
lente, the sports for that night for fear of tumultes weare broken vpp, 
euerye mann betakinge himselfe to his reste. The next night fol- 
lowinge, beinge the feast of All Sayntes, at nighte they mett agayne 
together ; And thereas yt was hoped a nights sleepe would haue 
somewhat abated theyr rage, it contraryewise set a greater edge on 
theyr furye, they hauinge all this while but consulted how to gett 
more strength on agaynst another, and consequently to breed newe 
quarrells and contradictions, in so much that the strife and conten- 
tions of youthes & children had like to haue sett Men together 
by the eares, to the vtter annihalatinge of all Christmas sportes for 
the whole yeare followinge. Wherefore for the auoydinge both the 
one, and the other, some who studied the quiet of all, mentioned 
the choosinge of a Christmas Lord, or Prince of the Revells, who 
should have authorytie both to appoynt & moderate all such games, 



246 APPENDIX. 

and pastimes as should ensue & to punishe all offenders w ch should 
any way hinder or interrupte the free & quiet passage of any aun- 
tient & allowed sporte. 

" This motion (for that the person of a Prince or Lorde of the 
Revells had not bine knowen amongst them for thirty yeares 
. . . . ) was p'sentlye allowed and greedilye apprehended of all ; 
Wher vpon 13 of the senior Vnder graduates, .... w th drew 
themselues into the parlor, where after longe debatinge whether 
they should chouse a Graduate or an Vnder Graduate, thinkinge 
the former would not vouchsafe or vndertake yt at theyr appoynt- 
mentes, y e latter should not be vpheld & backed as yt was meete 
& necessary for such a place, they came forth rather to make 
triall what should be done, than to resolue what should be done. 
And therefore at their first entrance into the Hall meeting S r Towse 
a younge man (as they thought) fitt for the choyse, they layed 
handes on him, and by maine strength liftinge him vpp, viua voce, 
pronounced him Lord. . But hee as strongelye refusinge the place 
as they violentlye thrust it vpon him, shewinge w th all, reasons why 
hee could by no meanes vndergoe sue a charge, they gott onlye this 
good by their first attempt, that they vnderstood heer by how that 
y e whole Colledge was rather willinge a Senior Batchelour at least, 
yf not a junior M r should be chosen into the place rather than any 
Vnder graduate, because they would rather an earnest sporte than 
a scoffinge jest should be made of it. Wher fore the Electors re- 
tourninge againe into the Parlor and shuttinge the # dore close vpon 
themselves beganne more seriously to consult of the matter, and 
findinge some vnable, some vnwillinge to take the place, at length 
they concluded to make the 2 assay but w th more formalitie and de- 
liberation ; resoluinge yf they were not now seconded of all handes, 
to meddle no more w th it. Wherfore entringe ye second time into 
the Hall they desired one of the 10 Seniors & one of the Deanes 
of the Colledge to hould Scrutinye and the Vice-Praesident to sitt 
by as ouer-seer, who willingly harkninge to their request sate all 
3 down at the highe Table : Then the Electors went vp one by one 



APPENDIX. 247 

in senioritye to giue their voyce by writinge At length all 

the voyces beinge giuen .... the Vice-Praesident w th the rest 
stoode vpp, and out of the abstract the Deane read distinctly in the 
hearinge of all p'sent as followeth 

Nominantur in hoc Scrutinio duo quorum 

( i us Joanes Towse, habet suffragia sex. 
( 2 Thomas Tucker, habet suffragia septem. 
These wordes were not out of his mouthe before a generall and loud 
crie was made of Tucker, Tucker, Viuat, Viuat, & ct . After w ch all 
the younger sorte rane forth of the Colledge, crieinge the same in 
the streets ; w ch S r Tucker beinge then howsde not farr from the 
Colledge, ouer hearinge, kept himself close till the companye were 
past, and then, as soone and secretly as he could, gott him to his 
Chamber ; where (after he had bine longe sought for abroad in the 
Towne, and at home in y e Colledge, haste and desire out runfiinge 
it self, and seekinge there last where it might first finde) he was in 
maner surprised, and more by violence than any will of his owne, 
taken vpp & with continuall & joyfull outcries, carried about y e 
Hall, and so back to his Chamber, as his owne request was, where 
for y* night he rested, dismissinge y e Company and desiringe some- 
time to thinke of their loues and goodwill and to consider of his 
owne charge and place." 

[After a council held in the Hall of the College on the 5th of 
November, a subscription was determined upon, or rather " an 
auncient Act for taxes and subsidyes " made in 1577, in the reign 
of a preceding Christmas Prince was newly ratified and published.] 
It was enacted : — 

" that no man dissemble his estate, or hide his abilitye, but be 
willinge at all times to pay such duetyes, taxes, and subsidies as 
shall be lawfully demaunded & thought reasonable " 

[The subscription was headed by the College " Domus vi 11 xiii 
iiii d " Among the long list that follows appear the names of Laud 
and Juxon, both of them afterwards Archbishops of Canterbury. 

The supply thus obtained, being found insufficient, a writ was 



248 APPENDIX. 

served in due form to those who had been sometime Fellows or 
Commoners of the College.] 

"Trusty and welbeloued wee greet } r ou well. Allthough there 
bee nothinge more against our minde then to be drawne into any 
course that may burden our loyall Subjects, Yet such is our estate, 
at this time in regard of y e great and vrgent occasions fallinge and 
growinge dayly vpon vs without time or respiration as wee shalbe 
forced praesently to disburse greater somes of money then is possible 
for vs to prouide by any ordinarye meanes, or to want w th out great 
prejudice. Sejng as well y e fame of our kingdome in y e entertayn- 
ment of forraine Princes & Embassadours, as y e safetie of our own 
person, and y e whole Comonwealth, for the prseuentinge of warrs 
and tumultes, likely to ensue, consisteth in y e wealth of our coffers 
as much as in any one meanes whatsoeuer. In which consideration 
wee think it needlesse to vse any more argumentes from such a 
Prince to such a Subject, but y*, as our necessitie is y e only cause 
of our request, so your loue & duety must be y e cheife motiue of 
your ready perfourmance and helpe in furnishinge these our wantes, 
not only w th your person, but w th your purse in your owne absence : 
A matter wherof we make no doubt, beinge fully perswaded of 
your seruice and fidelitie. Therfore our will and pleasure is that 
presently upon y e receipt hereof you cause a some of money ac- 
cording to y r abilitie & greatnesse of y r loue to bee deliuered to 
Thomas Clarke whom we haue appointed to be our Collector in y e 
County of Middlesex ; the lone whereof only we desire to be vntill 
y e next great yeare of Plato, then to be jmediatly repayd by vs or 
our successors to you or y r Assignes y* shall then demaund it. 

" Giuen vnder our priuye Seale at our Pallace of St. Iohns in Oxen, 
the seuenth of December in the first yeare of our rayne, 1607." 

" For all these Subsidies at home, and helpes abroad, yet it was 
founde y*' in y e ende there would rather be want (as indeed it hap- 
ned) then any superfluitye, and therefore y e Prince tooke order w th 
the Bowsers to send out warrantes to all y e Tenantes & other 



APPENDIX. 249 

frendes of y e Colledge y* they should send in extraordinary pro- 
uision against euery Feast, w ch accordingly was perfourmed ; Some 
sendinge Money, some Wine, some Venison some other prouision, 
euery one according to his abilitye. 

" All things beinge thus sufficiently [as it was thought] prouided 
for, y e Councell table w th y e Lord himself, mett together to nominate 
Officers & to appoynt the day of y e Princes publike installment. 
.... It was thought fitt that his [the Prince's] whole ensuinge 
Regiment (for good lucke sake) should be consecrated to y e Deitie 
of Fortune, as y e sole Mistres & Patronesse of his estate, and 
therefore a schollarlike deuise called, Ara Fortunae was prouided for 
his installment On S 4 Thomas day at night y e officers be- 
fore elect were solemnly proclaimed by a Sergeant at amies, and an 
Herauld, y e trompetts soundinge beetwixt euery title. This Procla- 
mation after it was read, was for a time hunge vp in y e Hall, y* 
euery man might y e better vnderstande y e qualitie of his owne place, 
and they y* were of lower, or no place, might learne what duety to 
perfourme to others. 

" The mafier whereof was as followeth : 

" . . . . Therefore by these prassentes bee it knowne vnto all of 
what estate or condicion soeuer whome it shall concerne y* Thomas 
Tucker an honorable wise & learned Gentlemen to y e great come- 
forte of y e weale-publique from hence-forth to be reputed, taken and 
obayed for the true, onely and vndoubted Monarche of this reuel- 
linge Climate, whome y e generall consent and ioynte approbation 
of y e whole Comonwealth hath inuested and crowned with these 
honours & titles followinge : 

u The most magnificent and renowned Thomas by the fauour of 
Fortune, Prince of Alba Fortunata, Lord S* Iohns, high Regent of 
y e Hall, Duke of St Giles, Marquesse of Magdalens Landgraue 
of y e Groue, County Palatine of y e Cloisters, Cheife Bailiffe of y e 
Beaumonts, high Ruler of Rome, Maister of the Manor of Wal- 
tham, Gouernour of Gloster-green, sole Comaunder of all Tilts, 
Tourneaments, and Triumphes, Superintendent in all Solemnities 
whatsoeuer." 



250 APPENDIX. 

(Then comes the appointment of a long list of subordinate offi- 
cers and deputies.)" 

From this time forward, and not before, the Prince was thought 
"fully to be enstalde, and y e forme of gouernement fully estab- 
lished, in-so-much that none might or durst contradicte any thinge 
w ch was appoynted by himself, or any of his Officers." 

In the " Miscellanea Antiqua Anglicana," from which the above 
is abridged, there is a lengthy account of the masks and entertain- 
ments which followed, written by an eye witness of, and performer 
in, the sports, printed for the first time (18 15) from the original man- 
uscript in the College Library. 



APPENDIX. 251 

THE LONDON MIDSUMMER HOLIDAYS. 

(From Stow's Survey.) 

" In the months of June and July, on the vigils of festival days 
and on the same festival days in the evenings after the sun setting 
there were usually made bonfires in the streets, every man bestow- 
ing wood or labour toward them ; the wealthier sort also, before 
their doors near to the said bonfires, would set out tables on the 
vigils, furnished with sweet bread and good drink, and on the festi- 
val days with meats and drinks plentifully, whereunto they would 
invite their neighbours and passengers also to sit and be merry with 
them in great familiarity, praising God for his benefits bestowed on 
them. These were called bonfires as well of good amity amongst 
neighbours that being before at controversy, were there, by the 
labour of others, reconciled, and made of bitter enemies loving 
friends ; and also for the virtue that a great fire hath to purge the 
infection of the air. On the vigil of St. John the Baptist, and on 
St. Peter and Paul the Apostles, every man's door being shadowed 
with green birch, long fennel, St. John's wort, orpin, white lilies, and 
such like, garnished upon with garlands of beautiful flowers, had 
also lamps of glass, with oil burning in them all the night ; some 
hung out branches of iron curiously wrought, containing hundreds 
of lamps alight at once, which made a goodly show, namely, in New 
Fish Street, Thames Street, etc. Then had ye besides the standing 
watches all in bright harness, in every ward and street of this city 
and suburbs a marching watch, that passed through the principal 
streets thereof, to wit, from the little conduit by Paule's Gate to West 
Cheap, by the stocks through Cornhill, by Leaden Hall to Aldgate, 
then back down through Fenchurch Street by Grasse Church, about 
Grasse Church conduit, and up Grasse Church Street into Cornhill, 
and through it into West Cheape again. The whole way for this 
marching watch extendeth to three thousand two hundred tailor's 
yards of assize ; for the furniture whereof with lights, there were 
appointed seven hundred cressets, five hundred of them being found 
by the companies, the other two hundred by the chamber of Lon- 
don. Besides the which lights every constable in London, in num- 



252 APPENDIX. 

ber more than two hundred and forty, had his cresset : the charge 
of every cresset was in light two shillings and fourpence, and every 
cresset had two men, one to bear or hold it, another to bear a bag 
with light and to serve it, so that the poor men pertaining to the 
cressets, taking wages, besides that every one had a straw hat, with 
a badge painted, and his breakfast in the morning, amounted in 
number to almost two thousand. The marching watch contained in 
number about two thousand men, part of them being old soldiers of 
skill, to be captains, lieutenants, sergeants, corporals, etc., wiflers, 
drummers and fifers, standard and ensign bearers, sword-players, 
trumpeters on horseback, demilances on great horses, gunners with 
hand guns, or half hakes, archers in coats of white fustian, signed 
on the breast and back with the arms of the city, their bows bent in 
their hands, with sheaves of arrows by their sides, pikemen in 
bright corslets, burganets, etc., halberds, the like billmen in almaine 
rivets, and apernes of mail in great number ; there were also divers 
pageants, morris-dancers, constables, the one-half, which was one 
hundred and twenty, on St. John's Eve, the other half on St. Peter's 
Eve in bright harness, some overgilt, and every one a jarnet of 
scarlet thereupon, and a chain of gold, his henchman following him, 
his minstrels before him, and his cresset light passing by him, the 
waits of the city, the mayor's officers for his guard before him, all in 
a livery of worsted, or say jackets parti-coloured, the mayor himself 
well mounted on horseback, the sword-bearer before him in fair 
armour, well mounted also, the mayor's footmen, and the like torch- 
bearers about him, henchmen twain upon great stirring horses, fol- 
lowing him. The sheriff's watches came one after the other in like 
order, but not so large in number as the mayor's ; for where the 
mayor had besides his giant three pageants, each of the sheriffs 
had besides their giants but two pageants, each their morris-dance, 
and one henchman, their officers in jackets of worsted, or say parti- 
coloured, differing from the mayor's, and each from other, but hav- 
ing harnessed men a great many, etc. 

"This midsummer watch was thus accustomed yearly, time out of 
mind, until the year 1539, the thirty-first of Henry' VIII., in which 
year, on the 8th of May, a great muster was made by the citizens at 
the Mile's end, all in bright harness, with coats of white silk, or 



APPENDIX. 253 

cloth and chains of gold, in three great battles, to the number of 
fifteen thousand, which passed through London to Westminster, and 
so through the sanctuary, and round about the park of St. James, 
and returned home through Oldborne. King Henry, then consider- 
ing the great charges of the citizens for the furniture of this unusual 
muster, forbade the marching watch provided for at midsummer for 
that year, which being once laid down, was not raised again till the 
year 1548, the second of Edward VI., Sir John Gresham then being 
mayor, who caused the marching watch, both on the Eve of St. John 
the Baptist, and of St. Peter the apostle, to be revived and set forth 
in as comely order as it had been accustomed. Since this mayor's 
time the like marching watch in this city hath not been used, though 
some attempts have been made thereunto." 

An ancient custom in connection with the above is also noticed by 
Stow, who says that the following custom was maintained in St. 
Paul's Cathedral on the Festival of St. Peter and St. Paul, which 
custom originated in an obligation incurred by Sir William Baud, in 
1274 (in the third year of Edward I.), when he was permitted to 
enclose twenty acres of the Dean's land, in consideration of pre- 
senting the clergy of the cathedral with a fat buck and doe yearly 
on the days of the Conversion and Commemoration of St. Paul (25th 
of January and 29th of June). Stow says : — 

" Now what I have heard by Report and have partly seen, it fol- 
loweth. On the feast day of the commemoration of St. Paul, the 
buck being brought up to the steps of the high altar in St. Paul's 
Church, at the hour of procession the dean and chapter being 
apparelled in copes and vestments, with garlands of roses on their 
heads, they sent the body of the buck to baking, and had the head 
fixed on a pole, borne before the cross in their procession, until they 
issued out of the west door, where the keeper that brought it blowed 
the death of the buck, and then the homers that were about the city 
presently answered him in like manner; for the which pains they 
had each one of the dean and chapter, fourpence in money, and 
their dinner, and the keeper that brought it was allowed during his 
abode there, for that service, meat, drink, and lodging, at the dean 
and chapter's charges, and five shillings in money at his going away, 
together with a loaf of bread, having the picture of St. Paul 
upon it, etc. 



2 54 APPENDIX. 

[There was belonging to the church of St. Paul, for both the days, 
two special suits of vestments, the one embroidered with bucks, the 
other with does, both given by the said Baud (as I have heard)." 

[" Stow was but an indifferent scholar himself; but then he having 
had the use of Mr. Leland's Notes (which are now lost), there are 
many excellent things in the work, and some of them learned and 
worthy the observation of even our best scholars." Thomas Hearne, 
exon. July n, 17 14.] 



THE KIRMSE, OR KIRCH-MESSE. 

(THE " CHURCH ALES " OF THURINGEN, SAXONY.) 

One of the most important of the national festivals of Thuringian 
Saxony is that of Kirmse or Kirch-Messe, which not unlike the Old 
English wakes and the'Aya7rai of the early Christians, celebrates the 
foundation of the Church : — 

u Early in the morning the Kirmse lads assemble together in their 
holiday clothes, and, accompanied by a band of music, go in pro- 
cession to the village church, where the Pastor (who is indeed the 
Shepherd of his little flock) awaits their arrival, and delivers a short 
address or moral exhortation, appropriate to the occasion. After 
this the Platz-Meister, or director of the sports and pleasures, is 
chosen, who with his Knecht, or valet, and attendants, plays a con- 
spicuous role. Having a branch of rosemary in one hand and a 
goblet in the other, which is from time to time replenished by the 
valet, the Platz-Meister proceeds to invite the principal persons of 
the village to the fete. On entering a house, he drains his cup to 
the health of its owner, and, in formal speech, invites him to the 
feast. He then sur le champ requests permission to dance with the 
gude man's wife, or should her dancing days be over (which, by the 
bye, is rarely the case), with the daughter. This is called the 
Ehrentanz, or dance of honor, and is never refused. In return for 
these civilities, the valet always receives a giant-sized cake, of which 
some hundreds are prepared the previous week, and which form the 



APPENDIX. 255 

staple article of the evening's refreshment. The invitations being 
concluded, the dance is commenced under the Linden-tree ; but first 
by the youths alone, who dance the Ponde, after which they go in 
quest of their partners, having little gala wands in their hands. 
Naturally the maidens, nothing loth, are not unprepared, but attired 
in their best, and each having a Schdrpe or scarf in her hand, await 
with anxious expectation the arrival of the swain, who, if he be for- 
tunate enough to obtain the father's consent to taking out the lass 
as his partner for the day, attaches the scarf to her left shoulder in 
token of consent, while she in return adorns his hat with ribbons 
and with spangles. On her arrival she likewise must drink to the 
health of the assembled company. Then come the parents and the 
elders ; nor do they omit the pleasing task of quaffing the goblet in 
the cause of mirth and gayety. Now begins the dance in right 
earnest, the Schleifer and the Hosfier, the Zweitritt and Schottish, 
and continues until six o'clock, when they join the festive board, 
and restore the system to its tone of vigour and hilarity. After that 
the dance is resumed, and with the aid of cake and beer, is pro- 
longed, until midnight hours resign the merry troop to friendly Mor- 
pheus. The second day is a repetition of the first ; the third, how- 
ever, is varied by the Hammel Peiden and the Hahnenschlag. The 
first is a horse-race, but derives its name from the circumstance of the 
prize being a fat sheep, which the winner obtains, and which being 
decked out with flowers and ribbons, is attached to the goal or win- 
ning-post. The second is the source of much amusement. Poor 
chanticleer, being placed under an inverted bowl, the youths, blind- 
fold, successively try to release him by cracking his brittle gaol with 
sticks. This was a game very common both in England and 
France. 'Throwing at the Cock' on Shrove Tuesday. In France, 
the Gallorum Pugna is described in Carpentius Glossarium, a. d. 
1458, Abbeville. ' Petierunt a magistro, Erardo Maquart magistro 
scholarum ejusdem villae de Ramern, quatenus liberaret et traderet 
eis unum Galium quam sicut dicebant idem magister scholarum del- 
ebat eis die ipsa (Carneprivii) ut jacerent baculos ad Galium ipsum 
more solito pro earum exhileratione et ludo, 5 etc. On the fourth 
and last day, styled the Bettel-Tag, the young folks disguise them- 
selves, and the people from the neighboring village likewise come 



256 APPENDIX. 

in masquerade, dressed as Cossacks and Hussars, not forgetting the 
character of the Hans Wurst, or Jack Pudding. They go about 
requesting salt with true Etonian no?ichalance ; and the proceeds of 
the morning recueil, which are always donations in kind, furnish a far 
from despicable repast, which, after the usual quantum of dancing, 
drinking, smoking, and singing, winds up this national festivity." 



INDEX. 



Ale King and Queen, 176. 

Ales, or Wakes, when held, 172, 254. 

Alexander, or the King of Egypt, 234. 

Ascension-day, perambulations on, 163. 

Ashton faggot, 34. 

Ash-tree, man created out of, 34. 

As Joseph was a walking, carol, 19, 226. 

Bacon, origin of the name, 113. 
Banbury Cross, 188 
Beating the Bounds, 159. 

the Boys, 159. 
Boar, Death of the wild, carol, n 1 

ballad, 112. 
Boar's Head, carol, 107, 230. 

bringing in of, 106. 

origin of custom no, 113. 

favorite Norman dish, no. 

modern observance of, 109. 

in New York and Troy, 109. 
Boy-Bishop, origin of custom, 67 

installation of, 68, 70. 

monument of, 69. 

alleged profanities, 69, 71. 

Henry VIII. proclamation, 76. 

Dean Colet and, 77. 

revived by Queen Mary, 78. 

in modern times, 79. 

list of ornaments, 242. 
Brawn, receipt for making, 108. 

Candlemas day, 132. 

Carnival. See Sh rove-Tide, 132. 

Carol, derivation of word, 14. 

Carol, for St. Stephen's day, 17. 

Christ-Child, legend of, 63. 

Christian Festivals, their origin, 3, 4, 7. 

Christinas, derivation of word, 7. 

early observance of, 7. 

English observance of, 9, 103. 

ringing of London bells, 9 

evergreens in churches at, 10. 

hospitality enjoined, 43. 

how kept by Sir Wm. Hollis, 43. 

how kept by Duke of Norfolk, 43. 

programme of hospitalities at, 44. 

Abolished by Act of Parliament, 102 

in King Alfred's time, 120. 
Christmas, Banquets, 105. 

Boar's Head at, 105. 

by Henry VII., 106. 

at St. John's College, Oxford, 107. 

at Queen's College, 10S. 
Christmas-block, or Yule-log, 32, 35. 

Candle, 36. 



Christmas Carols, 13, 223. 

origin of singing, 13. 

sung by Pifferari, 14. 

among English peasantry, 19. 

popular in England, 28. 

revival of, 29. 

religious and convivial, 27. 
Christmas Day in the morning, carol, 24, 225. 
Christmas Eve, celebrated by Luther, 63. 

in Germany, 63 

in Pennsylvania, 63. 
Christmas Gambols, 81. 

presided over by Lord of Misrule, 
81. 

revival of, 104. 
Christmas Games, 88, 90. 
Christmas Hunt, 93, 94. 
Christmas Mummeries, 53, 235. 

origin of, 53. 

Mystery and Miracle plays, 54. 

object of, 54. 

at Court, 59. 

in Country, 60. 
Christmas Pie, 114. 

composition of, 115. 
Christmas Prince, 91, 245. 

in the Universities, 92, 96. 

at the Inner Temple, 92. 

in Inns of Court, 92, 99. 

at the Middle Temple, 95, 97. 

at St. John's College, Oxford, 96, 

245-. 

declining authority, 95. 

expense of maintaining, 96. 

his numerous titles, 249. 
Christmas revels, Whitelock's account of, 97, 99. 

Peter the Great, a guest at, 104. 
Christmas Tree, origin of, 62. 

decoration of, 63. 

and Christ-Child, 63. 

St. Nicholas and, 64. 

and Krippe or Manger, 64. 
Christmas Wassailing, 45. 
Church Ales in Thuringia, 254. 
Churches, profanation of, 85. 
Cock-throwing, 1 35, 255. 
fighting, 135. 

Dancing, of the Sun, 145. 

at Easter, 148. 

its Antiquity, 148. 

Morris dancing, 169, 186, 189. 

in the Hall, 42. 
Dramas, sncred, 53. 

scholastic character of, 54. 



25» 



INDEX. 



Easter, or Eoster, 3, 144. 

derivation of, 144. 

putting out fires, 145. 

use of flowers, 146. 

lifting or heaving, 146. 

hand-ball, 148. 

dancing, 149. 

Municipal observance of, 149. 

Tansy Cakes, 150. 

in the Greek Church, 146, 151, 154. 

Pasche eggs, 151. 

blessing food, 152. 

sepulchre show, at, 243. 
Easter Ales, 172. 
Epiphany, definition of, 118. 
Eton Montem festival, 243. 

Father Christmas, 61, 78, 234, 240. 
Feast of Fools and of the Ass, 71. 

councils forbid them, 71 

first invented 900 A. D., 72. 

ceremony described, 72, 74. 

held in Paris, 73. 

in the cathedral of Rouen, 73. 

the feast in England, 76. 
Feast of the Star, 125, 127. 
Feasting in the Hall, 41. 
Feudal customs, 42. 

Games at Christmas, 88. 

mentioned by Burton, 90, 

at Shrove-tide, 139. 

at Easter, 149. 

at Whitsuntide, 176. 

May-day, 180. 
Giants and Dragons, 200. 
Gospel-trees, 160. 
Gothic Halls described, 36, 40. 
Gregory the Great, letter to Mellitus, 1. 

Hall in the Hospital of St. Cross, Winchester, 

40. 
Halls of Old England, 36. 

on Christmas Eve, 43. 
Gothic, 36. 
Norman, 37. 
furnishing of, 39. 
feasting in the, 41. 
Harvest Home, 213. 

Our Thanksgiving day, 213. 
Jewish Pentecost, 214. 
how kept in England, 215. 
in parish Churches, 218. 
Herrick's description, 220. 
Heaving, an Easter sport, 146. 

Antiquity of, 148. 
Herrick's Song of Twelfth Night, 130. 

Harvest Home, 171. 
Holly and the Ivy, Carol, 26, 228 
Holly-Boy and Ivy-Girl, 141. 
Holy Well The, Carol, 20, 227. 

Interludes, or Farcical representations, 56, 242. 

Jewish Festivals, 4. 
Joyes Fyve, Carol, 23. 

King and Queen of the Bean, 126. 

Song of, by Herrick, 130. 
King and Queen at Whitsun Ales, 176. 
Kinuse or Kirch-Messe, 254 



Lambs' Wool, 45. 

how composed and meaning of, 45. 
origin of term, 46. 
Liberty-pole (McFingal), 191. 
Lifting, an Easter sport, 146. 

Antiquity of, 148. 
London Midsummer Holidays, 251. 
Lord of Misrule, 81. 

his powers derived from Roman Saturna- 
lia, 81. 
at Evelyn's Estate. S3, 
at Sir O. Cromwell's Estate, 84. 
in Churches and Churchyards, 84 
described by Stubbs, 86. 
Loving cup, kissing of, 51. 
Ludi, or plays and moralities, 59. 
at Court of Edward III., 59. 

Magi, or Wise Men of the East, 126. 

adoration of the, 125. 
Marching Watch, 196. 251. 
Masques, at Whitehall, 99. 

• at Shrove-tide, 136. 
at Inns of Court, 137. 
at Easter, 153. 
in Saxony, 255. 
Master of Revels, 92. 

Whitelock as, 97. 
May-day, 179. 

Roman Festival of Flora, 179. 
Druidical origin, 180. 
May-pole in England, 180. 
sports forbidden by parliament, 181. 
Thomas Hall's Trial of Flora, 182. 
Stubbs on May-day Follies, 182. 
Stowe draws a fairer picture, 183. 
gathering May-dew, 184. 
ballad, " Rural dance round the May- 
pole," 185. 
Milkmaid's Garland, 185. 
Queen of the May, 188. 
May-pole, 180, 190. 

in London, 1717, 191. 
McFingal's Liberty-pole, 191. 
Midsummer's Eve, 193. 

at Magdalen College, 194. 
lighting fires on, 195, 251. 
origin of St. John's fires, 195. 
the custom in Ireland, 196. 
keeping watch on, 196. 
at Nottingham, 197. 
at St. Paul s Cathedral, 197. 
at Chester, 198. 

at Queen Elizabeth's Coronation, 200. 
Giants and Dragons, 200. 
shows condemned, 201. 
London Marching Watch, 202. 
superstitious practices forbidden, 204. 
St. John's Eve in Ireland, 205. 
in Spain, 206. 
in Naples, 207. 
in Germany, 207-8. 
Enchantments practiced, 207. 
love divinations, 208. 
the Orpine plant, 209. 
Burn's Hallowe'en, 210. 
superstitions condemned, 211. 
in Sweden, 212. 
Mince-pie, 116. 
Minstrelsy at dinner, 40. 
Miracle-plays, 54, 74. 
at Court, 59. 



INDEX. 



259 



Miracle plays in the country. 60. 

St. "George and the Dragon, 6r, 234. 
Mistletoe, at Christmas, 47. 

origin of, 48. 

its pagan rites and ceremonies, 48. 

kissing under the, 48, 50. 

medicinal properties of, 49. 

use of, forbidden by ecclesiastical 
councils, 49. 

an article of commerce, 50. 
Morris-dance, the, 169, 186, 189. 
Mummeries, 42, 59. 
Music, 223. 
Mysteries, 54. 

Nativity, the, 8. 

representations of, 64. 
Nay, Ivy, Nay — carol, 142. 
Norman Halls described, 38. 
Northumberland Household Book, 241. 

Old Christmas Day, 11S. 
Old Father Christmas, 70, 79. 

Pagan Festivals, 2. 
Pancake-Bell, 134. 
Parish Clerks, society of, 57. 
Pasche eggs at Easter, 15 1-2. 

origin of Pasche egging, 153. 
revival of, 154. 
Pentecost, Jewish Festival of, 5, 214. 
Perambulating the Parish, 155. 

observed by Hooker, 159. 
Pifferari, carol singing by, 14. 

description of, 15. 
Plays and Moralities, 53, 242. 
in church forbidden, 56. 
compiled by the Reformers, 58. 
Bishop Bale's " King John," 58. 
at Court of Edward III., 59. 
of Henry VIII., 59. 
in Cornwall, 60. 
before Queen Elizabeth, 137. 

Queen of the Maj 7 , 188. 

Rhyne Toll of Chetwode Manor, in. 
Rogation Week, 155. 

Roman Terminalia, 157. 

processions in London, 158. 

beating the bounds, 159. 

beating the boys, 159. 

Gospel-trees, 160. 

Herbert's country parson, 160. 

Anecdote of Duke Robert, 160. 

ludicrous anecdote, 162. 

Wells of Tissington, 163. 

Wells of Buxton, 166. 

Bishop Cox on restoration of, 166. 

Saturnalia, Heathen, 3, 81. 

St. George and the Dragon, 61, 234. 

St. John Baptist's day, 194. 

St. John's Eve — see Midsummer's Eve, 193. 

St. Nicholas, personified, 64, 241. 

childlike virtues of, 68. 

patron saint of children, 5g. 

among the Dutch of the New 
Netherlands, 79. 
St. Paul's day, 197, 253. 
Shrove-tide, 132. 



Shrove-tide, Taylor's description of, 134. 

at Westminster school, 135. 

Cock-throwing at, 135, 255. 

threshing the fat hen at, 136. 

Dramas at, 136. 

at the Inns of Court, 137. 

game of foot-ball, 139. 

billet or tip-cat, 140. 
Snap-dragon, 89. 

Song of, 89. 
Sword-dance in the North of England, 60. 
Symposiarch, 82. 

Taberdar, officer of Queen's College, 114. 
Tacitus, opinion of Jewish Festivals, 6. 
Tansy-cake, prize at game of ball, 150. 
Thanksgiving, identical with Harvest Home, 

213- 
The Holy Well, 229. 
Three Kings of Cologne, 122, 128. 
Twelfth Day or Old Christmas, 118. 

Old and New style, 118. 

observed in King Alfred's time, 120. 

Three Kings of Cologne, 122, 128. 

at Court of Henrv VII., 122. 

in 1 8th and 19th Centuries, 123. 

at Milan, 124. 

adoration of the Magi, 125. 

Rex Convivii, or Arbiter Bibendi, 126. 

Bean King and Queen, 326. 

at Mansion House, London, 127. 
Twelfth Night characters, 127. 

in Low Countries and Germany, 127. 

in New York at the Century Club, 128 

Song of, by Herrick, 13d.' 

Waits, instruments used by, 30. 

their number in 1554, 158. 
Wassail, 34. 

receipt for making, 45. 
origin of drinking, 46. 
in Monasteries, 51. 
Glastonbury Wassail-bowl, 51. 
loving cup, 5 1 . 
We'come, Yule-song of, 16. 
Whitsun-ales, 168. 
Whitsuntide, definition of, 167. 

Morris-dances, 168, 169. 
descent of the Holy Ghost, 171. 
Wakes, or Ales, when held, 172. 
Selling Ale in churches, 174. 
Stubbs denounces "Ales," 175. 
Aubrey approves them, 176. 
games and festivals, 176. 
observed in Germany, 177 
observed by Friendly Societies in 
England, 178 
Wise Men of the East, 120. 

Yule or Juul, 3. 

Lord and Lady of, 176. 
Yule-candle, 36. 
Yule-log, bringing in of, 32. 

in Connecticut, 33. 

Song, Herrick, 34. 

burnt tiU Twelfth Night, 35. 

superstitions concerning, 35. 
Yule songs, 15, 33- 

Zoroaster, 120. 



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